


A Roll of the Dice

by ScottyTheSkeleton



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types, Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst and Drama, Blood and Violence, Ensemble Cast, Eventual Happy Ending, Fantastic Racism, Fantasy, Gen, Injury, Magic, Missing in Action, My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Self-Doubt, Some Humor, Swearing, Tags May Change, reality ensues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2020-10-12 01:23:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 49,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20555903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScottyTheSkeleton/pseuds/ScottyTheSkeleton
Summary: A party of players are inexplicably transported into their Dungeon Master's Campaign, where they take the form of their characters. But they soon realise that the DM has gone missing! This is the tale of our heroes adventure to find their lost friend and, hopefully, a way home too.





	1. Cabbage Patch Kids

Bertram let out an annoyed groan as the sound of yelling coming from outside woke him up. The middle-aged, human farmer only got a chance to rest past dawn once a week at best and today's lie in had now been ruined. Most days he was up before the sun to tend to his crops and animals, a habit he was used to from many years of his profession, but being rudely jolted from his rest had left him groggy, annoyed and considering just ignoring the noise and remaining in bed. He sighed as he made his decision and hauled himself upright, sitting on the edge of the small, wooden cot layered with hay and cloth which passed for his bed. The man let his face fall into the palms of his hands, rubbing some of the sleep from his eyes and letting out a pained grumble as he hauled himself to his feet, joints aching as a side effect of a lifetime of long days and hard work. Quickly, he picked up a pair of trousers which he had left draped over the end of the cot and pulled them on over the top of his bedclothes. Still grumbling, he made his way out of the small bedroom and through the main room of his farmhouse. It wasn't much, but it had been in his family for generations and he lived alone, there was plenty of space for him and his thoughts within the confines of his home. As he opened the front door of the house, he squinted as the early morning light of the sun momentarily blinded him and the loud voices he had been following since he awoke were now clear for him to hear.

"-doesn't make any sense  _ at all _ Katie! I don't know about you, but I don't remember ever hearing about something like this!" This voice was that of a male but slightly higher pitched than that of a human.

"Well maybe it hasn't been documented before? Or we could be the first? You need to consider those possibilities, Tim." A gruff, deeper voice responded. 

"All  _ I'm _ considering is how in the Hell we find Mike and get home! Why did I roll a Gnome of all races! I'd have made an Aasimar if I'd known this was going to happen." Was the retort by the first voice.

"M-maybe Katie's right Tim, you don't need to be so aggressive..." This third voice was small and timid, conjuring up an image of a young woman in Bertram's mind.

"Oh be quiet Ruby, when we first got here you thought it was  _ supposed _ to happen when you play!" The high pitched male again, Tim was it?

"Tim, she was freaking out. Enough." A voice which carried authority and strength this time. Definitely that of a male.

"Fuck off Eric!"

"Maybe you should be less focused on your  _ shortcomings  _ and look on the bright side Tim!" This voice was female but it was loud and boisterous.

" _ Fuck off even further, Anna! _ " Was the response.

Bertram didn't quite understand what the argument was about or why it had to take place in the middle of his cabbage patch. All he knew was that these people, who regardless of what they sounded like were bickering like children to his ears, were making too much noise. He was grumpy, sore, half asleep and the yelling was making his head hurt. He cleared his throat loudly, just as his eyes adjusted to the change in light from opening his door. Slowly, figures of varying shape and size came into view and as the details of each of them became apparent, Bertram suddenly regretted drawing attention to himself.

Six pairs of eyes suddenly focused on the farmer and he felt himself shrink slightly under their gaze as they immediately fell silent. They were a very strange group to Bertram's eyes, not one of them shared the same race for one thing, and none of them were dressed similarly. It seemed unlikely that they were soldiers. A mercenary band? Bandits? He really hoped they weren't bandits as he took in each of their appearances.

First was a large, powerfully built Human, at least six feet tall and armoured in chainmail from neck to boot, having decided at some point to lower his chain hood. He had a thick mane of blonde hair and the beginnings of a beard on his chin, his piercing blue eyes expressing shock at Bertram's sudden appearance. The man wore a tabard over the front of his armour, dark blue with a large, black lion emblazoned across the front. Sticking up from behind his head was the pommel of what appeared to be a large sword, most likely a greatsword of some kind. The pommel was polished and ornate, an inscribed silver handle opposed to the usual leather wrappings one would find on a commoner's weapon.

Next, a skinny Gnome standing at around four feet tall, possibly shorter, a normal height for their race as far as Bertram could tell. His small, annoyed face was curled up in a scowl, which caused the small curly moustache he wore to curl yet more, and his eyes were well hidden by a pair of bronze goggles and a pair of very large, very bushy black eyebrows. To top it all off, the Gnome's head was shaved and on the scalp was a tattoo of a strange symbol, which seemed to be a six pointed star of some sort. The small figure wore dark red robes and carried both a thick, chain bound tome, which was on his belt, and a large wooden staff in his right hand, mostly straight but with a gnarled bundle of what looked like roots and twigs at the top. The staff towered over the short man, due to it being six feet tall.

The third figure he glanced over was a stout, shocked looking Dwarf. Bertram hesitated to think of them as a he or a she, as for anyone who wasn't a Dwarf it was a known fact that it was extremely difficult to distinguish between their genders due to the similar body shapes and large beards both males and females had, so he wasn't going to try. And this Dwarf did indeed have a beard, a huge, bushy, red beard which extended down to their waist and which was braided into two points from halfway down. Their hair was shaved on both sides with the small amount remaining on their head running down the middle of the scalp in the style of a mohawk. Whilst most of their face was hidden by the masses of hair in the way, Bertram noted soft and kind looking features. This Dwarf was wearing a large, flowing robe of light green with white highlighting around the wrists and hem and they carried a staff of their own, a golden yellow metal with a strange crystal set into the top. It was a more sensible height than that of the Gnome's, due to being only four and a half feet tall, perfectly matching the height of the Dwarf. 

A beautiful Elf was the fourth member of this ragtag band, a woman of unknown age with eyes of deep green and hair of brightest silver, which was tied back in a sensible ponytail. She looked mischevious to him, as if she was planning to crack a joke or say something deliberately antagonistic at any second. She wore brown hunting leathers, leaving her arms bare from the elbow downward, with a dark green half cape wrapped around her shoulders. He noted a quiverful of arrows on her back as well as the large, wooden bow she was carrying loosely in her left hand. It was a gorgeous work of art compared to the bows he himself had tried out in his youth, when he had the time to leave the work to his father and listen to stories with the rangers who travelled through this part of the land. Whilst those bows had looked well crafted to him then, now they seemed nothing more than sticks hacked off of trees in comparison to the shining and curved weapon the Elf held, unknown but curving script engraved into the body and looking like it had been grown for its purpose for years before finally being strung with string of pure silver.

Bertram's focus turned to the remaining two members of the party, both of whom caused his eyes to bulge and his heart to drop into the pit of his stomach as he considered the pair. He'd heard stories of these particular races but he had hoped never to meet either one in person.

The first was a Drow, a Dark Elf. Standing just under six feet tall, his ash grey skin and black eyes caused a tightening of the farmer's stomach and his pure white hair hung loosely around his shoulders, strands of it hanging in front of his face and slightly blocking his features, however Bertram noted high cheekbones and a thin, almost gaunt face. He was clad in black leather armour which hugged his form tightly, revealing his lean but muscular build. Tunic, trousers, gloves, boots, everything this one wore was black as the depths from which his kind crawled to the surface. A pair of deadly looking curved knives were sheathed at his hips, their wicked edge glinting in the morning light. Across his chest he wore a loosely strapped bandoleer of throwing knives, each one in the row carefully sheathed in its own individual scabbard. Shockingly however, when Bertram met his gaze, instead of seeing cold, soulless eyes which were a window into thoughts of murder and violence, he noticed a mixture of both confusion and excitement. If Bertram looked closer, he would have noticed that this Drow actually seemed quite young.

And finally, there was the Tiefling. She had a very slight build and was small, only around five and a half feet tall, and as Bertram looked at her, she edged slightly behind the Drow and looked away. She wore the simple clothing of a peasant, a white blouse and skirt which flowed down to her ankles, with no shoes. Her skin was a shining bright red and she had a pair of small horns like a doe's, each one set just above her eyes and curving up into her hair, which was black as night and curly, hanging as far down as her waist. Behind her, seemingly moving around with a mind of its own, was her tail. Before she had looked away, the farmer had caught sight of a pair of large, brown eyes, and her face seemed to be filled with fear at his appearance. Bertram was not fooled however. He knew the tales. Demonkin, Hellspawn, Fallen Ones, there were many different names for Tieflings in the land of Vecchia, but none of them ever painted a pretty picture. They were inexorably linked to the Devils and Demons who preyed upon the souls of mortals. They were worse even than the murderous and slave trading Drow in his mind, never to be trusted, always to be shunned and feared. Were he to let his guard down, he  _ knew _ that she would kill him as fast as blinking and carry his screaming soul back to her dark masters. If this group were the sort to consort with Devils, then maybe he should make a quick prayer to whatever God was listening to make his end swift.

As Bertram was still processing the sight of the group, a lengthy silence having now fallen over them all, the tension was broken when the Drow of all people stepped forward and smiled at him. He recoiled slightly at the Dark Elf's advance but then his jaw dropped as it opened its mouth and spoke.

"Good morrow to you, oh honourable peasant!" The Drow's voice sounded staged, loud and booming but slightly strained, as if he was not used to speaking in this manner. "We are humble travellers from bygone lands, a brotherhood far from our homes on a most urgent quest! We seek our um... ally! And uh, and we greatly require your uh... your... aid?" As the last few words had been stuttered out, the Drow's voice had broken in hesitation and fallen into a more natural timbre, betraying the fact that he had been deliberately deepening it to sound more... more what? Bertram wasn't really sure what the Drow had been trying to do with that performance, or even really understood what he had said.

The Gnome sighed and pushed up his goggles, rubbing his eyes with his free hand's thumb and forefinger in what seemed to be second hand embarrassment. "Jonny, roleplay later, we need to actually figure out what's going on here," he mumbled.

The Drow, Jonny, looked between Bertram and the Gnome sheepishly and took a step back, speaking normally. "Right, yes, sorry Tim, I just got excited is all..."

Bertram felt something snap in his jumbled and confused mind. What was going on? What did  _ they _ think was going on?? Why were they on his land ruining his rest, trampling his cabbages and speaking like normal people one second and over the top, wandering minstrels the next!? Were they going to rob and murder him or not!?! And most importantly!

"Who the Hell  _ are _ you people???" Bertram yelled.

\-------------------- **45 minutes earlier** \--------------------

Ruby was excited. She was nervous too, sure, but mostly she was excited. She had always wanted to try playing a tabletop roleplaying game but had never had the courage to bring it up with her friends, anxious that they might make fun of her for it. Then one day, while she had been working part time as a receptionist at Gilbert and Sons Law outside of her usual college hours, she had overheard Eric. She had always been dimly aware of the man clocking in and out or occasionally making small talk with her during work hours, she thought he was probably an accountant or something, but had never paid much more attention to him than that, preferring to keep to herself. However that had changed when he happened to answer a call from his friend Mike while still in the reception. She had overheard him talking about a session zero and something about running a game and when he hung up, she had tentatively questioned what it was he had been talking about. To her surprise, he had been more than happy to share that he had been organising the introduction to a brand new campaign the following week with his Dungeon Master, Mike. When she had expressed interest, he had offered her the chance to come and try it out.

So here she was, sitting at the table on a Sunday afternoon in Mike's living room, the space for the group having been made by clearing the sofas that had normally been here into the kitchen, where they were still sticking out from the doorway. Eric had picked her up from outside of work earlier in the day and just grinned as she gushed about her character, who she had been working on all week, to him. When they had arrived Mike had opened the door, the man himself a heavyset, thickly bearded type who had welcomed her warmly to the house, after which Eric had introduced her to the other four members of the group, who were now sat around her at the table and excitedly discussing the upcoming campaign while Mike and Eric set everything up.

Tim was the first one Eric introduced, the only other member of the party besides himself who had played with Mike as DM before. However, whilst Eric had known Mike for a few years, Tim had only played one campaign before the current one. He was quite a tall and thin man, whose response to her hello had been short but polite, busy as he was poring over the character sheet for his Gnome Wizard. Next had been Katie, a friend of Tim's from his University days who had agreed to join in after her last game group had broken up. Katie's introduction had been much more friendly, with the older woman giving Ruby a hug and excitedly asking what she had chosen to roll for her character. Ruby still remembered the end of their short conversation, when Katie had mentioned she was playing a Dwarf Cleric and in response to Ruby's question as to whether they would be male or female had simply responded, "Yes."

Jonny and Anna had been the last two members of the group introduced, this time by Katie as Eric had been hauled away at that point to help Mike with snacks. Both were closer to Ruby's age, but she was secretly slightly annoyed to find out that she was actually the youngest member of the group. It turned out that Jonny, who was playing a Drow Rogue, was actually Katie's younger brother, and Ruby had noticed a slight family resemblance once it was mentioned. He had blushed slightly when Katie had mentioned that he was very much a roleplay nerd but he had not refuted her claims. Anna had grinned and high fived Ruby when she had been introduced and had mentioned that she had joined the group when Jonny had awkwardly asked her if she would be willing to hang out with him this weekend. She herself had rolled a Half Elf Ranger for this game and had even gone as far as drawing a picture of what she imagined the character to look like. It had actually been pretty good.

Ruby was jerked from this reverie when Eric sat in the empty chair beside her and clapped a hand on her shoulder, before speaking to the group at large. 

"Alright everyone, snacks are served and we're ready to go. Are all your characters ready?"

Ruby looked down at her character sheet and the small figurine that she had purchased from a local hobby shop as a stand in for her Tiefling. She smiled as she considered that long week between now and the invitation, when she had spent almost every waking minute thinking on who her first character would be. After a brief discussion with Eric the day before the game, she had finally decided on a Wild Magic Sorcerer. She just liked the idea of it. Ruby started slightly again as Mike spoke, introducing the story.

"OK everyone. Welcome, to the land of Vecchia! A kingdom in strife, torn by a war started by the Dread Lord Malus-"

"Malice?" Tim interrupted, smirking slightly. "Not very imaginative is it?"

Mike sighed, "No, no, Ma-LUS, not Ma-LICE, it's completely different. Look, there's more to it than that but spoilers etcetera. Also, shut it, I'm doing the introduction here."

"Shan’t." teased Tim.

"Don't test me buddy, I still have that Godzilla statue as a Tarrasque stand in." responded Mike.

"I'll be good."

Eric chuckled beside Ruby at the exchange and she herself had to suppress a grin at the harmless banter between the pair. She focused again as Mike cleared his throat and continued.

"Alright so, Vecchia is only one kingdom in the continent right? There's Uthara in the South and the Sapphire Isles and- hang on, did none of you read the lore I sent to the group chat? Ruby, obviously you're exempt, we need to get you into that group."

There was silence. Then Katie coughed and covered her mouth with her hand, hiding a slight smirk, as Jonny alone slowly and bashfully raised his own hand into the air. Anna laughed beside him and playfully punched his shoulder when he blushed. Mike sighed again.

"Alright, you'll find out as you go along, I suppose, just ask me and I'll tell you what your character  _ should _ be aware of and so on and so forth. Now, let me just roll to decide where your party is when the story begins."

"Wait, how do they all know each other?" interrupted Katie.

Mike shrugged then. "We'll figure it out." and then he had rolled a pair of dice.

Suddenly, in a flash of white light, everything had vanished and Ruby had woken up in a forest, lying on her back and not feeling quite comfortable in her own body. She was lying on top of her tail, for one thing, and it was starting to go numb.

Wait,  _ Tail!? _

\------ **A Farmer's Cabbage Patch, Present** \------

The farmer's outburst had stunned the group back into silence again, earlier squabbling amongst themselves forgotten and Eric was the first to recover. Since they had arrived in this place he had tried to maintain a calm bearing but in reality he was just as lost and confused as the rest of the group. After he had suddenly awoken in a body which felt two sizes bigger than he was used to on a forest floor, Eric's immediate reaction had been to figure out if he was alone. It hadn't taken long to track down the others, especially with Anna acting as a beacon since she had immediately yelled out if anyone else was there the moment she had the chance to take a breath, and after failing to calm everyone down he had settled on leading them out of the trees and into the open fields where this farm had been located, leading everyone like a mother duck with a group of argumentative, freaked out ducklings behind him. Said argument had showed no sign of abating for the entire walk until the appearance of the middle aged local man from his home, who was now staring him down in what appeared to be stubborn defiance.

He held up a hand to the others in the group, open palmed and hoping they realised he wanted them to remain quiet whilst he handled it, and took a step forward, separating himself from the group and hesitated a moment before the smaller man. He held a fist to his mouth as he cleared his throat, thinking for a moment about what he would say, before coming to a decision.

"Hello Sir. I'm sorry about my friends and I, we're just a little bit lost and worried about one of our other friends. You see, he's gone missing and we're trying to find him."

The farmer narrowed his eyes at Eric and he gulped as the local folded his arms and harrumphed, stealing the occasional glance at Ruby and Jonny for some odd reason.

"That doesn't answer my question. Who the hell are you folk? What kind of group consorts with demons and killers?" He indicates Ruby and Jonny then, to Eric's shock. They were probably the most harmless pair here. "I don't want any trouble but if you plan to kill and rob me, I'm not worth your bloody time!" Again, the defiance was clear to see.

Eric had to suppress a snort, biting his lower lip and covering the action with his hand. Behind him he heard Tim say "Wait, what the  _ fuck? _ " before shushing him and turning back to the farmer, having regained his composure somewhat.

"You've got it all wrong sir. We're not killers or bandits or anything like that. We're  _ Adventurers _ . I swear on my oath as a Paladin that none of us mean you any harm." Maybe Jonny's roleplay idea wasn't so bad, just a tad overboard. "All we want to know is if you've seen our friend Mike. Big beard? Bit on the heavy side? Might have looked a tiny bit out of place?" As if you could call a man in cargo shorts and an AC/DC t-shirt in a fantasy kingdom anything other than out of place.

He heard Katie speak up behind him. "Eric, we don't know if he even looks like his normal self. Hell, look at-" Before she could finish however, the farmer interrupted.

"Out of place? Yeah actually I do recall someone like that now you mention it, I'm sure he called himself Mike." The defiance was gone and now he actually appeared relieved, clearly Eric's referral to himself as a Paladin had worked. The man scratched at his head then, as if struggling to remember. "He had some very strange clothing on as I recall. He woke me up early too, the bugger, but after I spoke with him he seemed trustworthy enough. He went that way, toward Bluethatch, nearest village." He indicated a direction. As far as Eric could see, it was pretty much the same as any other path around them with the exception of the forest they had just come from.

Eric shrugged. It was better than nothing. He inclined his head that way to the group to indicate that it was time for them to go. He smiled to the farmer then, intending to ask one more question.

"Thank you for your time sir, Gods bless you. About how much of a head start on us do you think he has? I'm sorry if between the two of us we managed to wake you up twice on the same day."

The farmer went oddly quiet then, one eyebrow raised as he considered what Eric had said. He opened his mouth once or twice before finally committing to what he wanted to say.

"What do you mean twice on the same day? I met that fellow 3 months ago."

  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first chapter of a fic idea I got a long while ago during one of my many games of DnD.
> 
> I've never written a fic before but it's planned to be a long one.
> 
> If you can see this, it means you read the start of my silly story and I thank you.


	2. Run, forest, run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroes decide to test out their skills and ruin a tree's day.

If there was one word which summed up how Tim felt overall at the moment, it would be annoyed. Of course there had been confusion when he had been hurled from one body to another, an experience which had left his head spinning, followed by the shock and anger of realising he was now inhabiting the body of his character; one who had been built specifically for bigger numbers on the character sheet as opposed to any sort of aesthetic or sensible design. Now however, his anger and confusion had slowly faded away to a consistent, low level annoyance which he didn't feel any need to try and rise above.

Of course he knew that if he were to voice this to the other members of the group, they would likely not have much sympathy when they realised why he was in this predicament. He didn't  _ deliberately _ build characters as minmaxed as possible, it was just a side effect of his personality. Sure, it was a tabletop role-playing game, it was all about building characters and interacting with the world envisioned by the dungeon master, a group writing a story together. But it was also a game about fighting monsters and delving into dungeons, which led Tim to the  _ obvious  _ conclusion that he should come prepared to win. Admittedly a wizard was a bit of a squishy choice compared to his previous builds but he just hadn't been able to resist the temptation to lay the groundwork for a pint-sized caster who would be able to nuke the battlefield into glowing craters by the time he hit the interesting levels. In fact, he had only chosen a gnome for the intelligence buff that came with the race.

To top it all off, now they had been wandering toward Bluetit, or whatever the fuck the village the old farmer had mentioned was called, for more than an hour, and at Eric's pace to boot. This was fine for everyone else, sturdy dwarven cleric Katie included, but his newly miniaturized frame was having to take two steps for every one of the taller player's lengthy strides. The fact that they had come upon a small dirt road curving its way through the rolling, grassy hillsides of the local area toward their destination had been a minor relief at best. An old and worn wooden signpost had confirmed that they were indeed on the right track and no one had spoken since then, all of them still slightly in shock and likely considering the situation internally the same as Tim. Even Anna, who had already established herself as the loudest of the group, had gone silent.

Thoughts wandering back to Eric, Tim looked up at the tall, heavily built paladin, who had been leading the group in single file for most of the walk, and grimaced. Back in the real world Tim had always been the tallest of the group and Eric had  _ definitely _ not been as jacked as that. Lucky bastard, of all the character designs to go with before being turned  _ into  _ said character, he had made the sort that any man would be quite happy to transform into; opposed to a wrinkled shortstack one step above a gremlin, as Tim currently was.

Almost as if he knew Tim was cursing him in his mind at this very moment, Eric suddenly broke the sullen silence the group had been stewing in for the past few miles.

"Jonny, you read Mike's lore. Any idea where we actually are?"

They didn't come to a stop, maintaining their trek toward the village, and Tim looked back at Jonny, fourth in line at the moment, as did the rest of the group. The Drow seemed to shrink into himself slightly at the sudden scrutiny before realising it wasn't an accusation but a question. He shrugged and shook his head. 

"Honestly guys, I only read it once and he wasn't exactly super detailed with what he wrote down. Spoilers, remember?" He scratched the back of his head slightly, thinking as he wandered along in step with the others. "This is probably Vecchia, that's the kingdom in the North of the continent, and it seems pretty peaceful here so it's probably not near the capital where all the war is going on-"

Eric came to a sudden halt, causing Tim to collide with the back of the taller man's legs and land flat on his backside, internally cursing. Eric himself barely seemed to notice, brow furrowed and mouth moving silently before he spoke again.

"Sorry, war? We've been dropped into a kingdom in the middle of a war??"

Jonny winced as Eric unconsciously raised his voice while Katie quietly reassured Ruby behind him, the youngest of the group having let out a squeak of fear and started muttering to herself when Jonny had mentioned war. He held up his palms in a placating gesture.

"Hey, relax, it's not a full scale war, y'know? It's more like… The Dread Lord is consolidating power while the loyalists rally against him? I think he's  _ technically  _ the new King but Mike was pretty vague-"

He fell silent as he was interrupted again. This time by Tim. 

"Oh well  _ that's  _ alright then," Tim mocked, hauling himself back to his feet and dusting off the back of his robe. "It's only the Dread Lord of Doom or whatever he's called. We don't need to worry about a war involving the Big Bad Evil Guy, it'll just pass us by right?" He had changed his mind. Annoyed no longer cut it, Tim was  _ mad _ . "I bet this guy is some overpowered, homebrewed monstrosity Mike came up with at 3am in a sleep deprived moment of madness so we couldn't accidentally kill him off early in the campaign!" Tim didn't know when he had started yelling and he didn't much care. "And knowing  _ my _ bloody luck, Mike is probably over there right now in a dungeon and we'll need to go rescue him with no abilities or powers or anything!"

He stopped then, suddenly feeling light headed and panting slightly. The rest of the group were staring at him in slack jawed silence but he couldn't muster enough energy to give a shit. He knew that they were all thinking the same as he was, subconsciously maybe but it was definitely there, and he was  _ certain  _ everyone had the same fear lurking at the back of their heads. How long were they going to be stuck here? How long could they really expect to last?

Suddenly, the awkward silence was dashed by Anna, finally breaking her own long and out of the ordinary selective muteness.

"What if we do have our abilities?"

The anger and encroaching headache that had been clouding Tim's mind were suddenly dashed and he slowly looked up at the Elf ranger who Anna currently embodied. Everyone else was looking at her too, all with faces ranging between shock and growing excitement. She spoke again.

"We've got our character's bodies, their gear and equipment. Why not their abilities too?"

Tim could feel a growing ember of excitement in his chest and try as he might, he couldn't quench it. In fact, the more he thought on Anna's words, the more it grew. What if she was right? He hadn't even looked at his spellbook yet after all. Then she said the magic words.

"Why don't we test it out?" 

\----------------------------------------------------------------

It didn't take them long to find what they needed. Following Anna's suggestion, the group had continued onward with a new found energy until they had come upon a lone tree just beyond the path's edge. It was quite a large tree, Tim reckoned at least 20 feet tall, an old and gnarled sentinel which stood a lone watch upon the path. Its branches curled up and outward, as if reaching desperately for the clouds in the sky above and what few leaves still clung to it were shrivelled and dead. The bark of the tree was more grey than brown and seemed to be slowly eroding away by itself from either age or exposure.

It was perfect as target practice.

Unfortunately, as the group had stopped a safe distance away to appreciate their chosen victim, idly chattering to one another about what they hoped they could do, they fell silent one by one and an awkward atmosphere of uncertainty descended over them. 

"So uh… how does this work?" Anna broke the silence.

Tim groaned audibly as Eric looked at Anna and raised an eyebrow.

"Well you're the one who brought it up. If I'm honest, I was hoping  _ you _ had an idea," said Eric.

Anna shrugged, palms facing the air. "Nope! But it's better than moping around on the walk like a bunch of little bitches." She ignored Tim's incredulous scoff and the shocked expressions on the others' faces as she took a few paces away from the group and considered the tree, hands on her hips as she decided what to do.

With another shrug, she retrieved her longbow from the sling across her back where she had stowed it earlier on their departure from the farm. Anna took a moment to hold the bow gently in both hands before taking the full weight of it in her left hand, her right reaching up to take an arrow from the quiver she carried. The half elf woman set the arrow into position and took a stance, feet wide and planted firmly. As she drew back the bowstring there was no sign of any shaking in her arms and she sighted down the length of the arrow with one eye closed and her tongue sticking out slightly, taking careful aim. Anna held the stance for several seconds, left arm held out perfectly straight and right hand at her cheek holding the arrow back. Tim was about to comment on the goofy face she was pulling when Anna suddenly let go and allowed the arrow to fly loose.

It flew straight and true, right into a small hole on the trunk which looked like an old squirrel nest, where it struck with a dull thud, wobbling slightly before remaining still.

"Did… did you do that on purpose?" Jonny questioned.

Anna responded by drawing two more arrows and letting them loose in quick succession one after the other. Both of them finished their flight in the same small hole as the first two. Then she turned to the group and grinned, bow held loosely at her side.

Ruby was the first of the group to recover and slightly raised her hand before realising it was unnecessary, instead just blurting out "How did you  _ do  _ that??"

Anna just kept grinning and responded with a one armed shrug. "I dunno it just sorta… happened. Like, muscle memory except I never actually, y'know, practiced archery ever. Does that make sense?"

"Absolutely not but good job anyway," responded Eric, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Suddenly, Jonny pushed his way to the front of the group, the Drow staring at Anna in wide eyed wonder. "That was  _ so cool!  _ Me next, me next!" He didn't wait for permission, hurrying over beside her and slipping a pair of throwing knives out of the bandoleer strapped over his torso, one in each hand. Without any delay, he hurled the first knife in a sweeping, overhand swing with the second knife following immediately after and thrown in the same fashion.

Both knives made a satisfying thud as they also met their mark, mere centimetres apart in the same hole. One had even split one of the arrows in half straight down the middle.

Tim chuckled as Jonny's reaction came. It was  _ much  _ less subdued than Anna's. Once he realised how accurate his throw had been, he threw both arms into the air, hands bunched into fists and let out a triumphant yell; followed by jumping up and down on the spot giggling to himself. Tim wondered how a local would have responded to a Drow reacting like this. They'd probably think they had gone mad.

There was some lighthearted chuckling among the others when Jonny calmed down, blushing slightly and slinking away to the back of the group after he remembered he had an audience, and those who had yet to test their abilities looked at each other.

"Okay," said Eric "Easy enough test for the ranged pair but magic might be slightly trickier."

"Then why don't you go first?" Katie replied, excitement evident in the gruff, dwarven voice. "You've got a sword, give it a swing!"

Eric hesitated before slowly pulling his greatsword free of its scabbard. Surprisingly, he seemed to have little trouble in handling the oversized weapon with only one hand, the man taking a moment to inspect the blade before gripping the pommel with his free hand and taking a few slow practice swings. His technique reminded Tim more of a man swinging a baseball bat than a sword but he held his tongue. His new, puny frame probably couldn't even  _ lift _ the weapon, nevermind swing it. 

Eric stepped away from the others, closing the gap between himself and the tree in a matter of moments with his long strides. He held his sword at his hip, the blade sticking out at an angle behind him and both hands tightly gripping the pommel. As he reached the base of the trunk he took a moment to choose a branch, one just within reach of the blade and as thick around as a man's arm, before swinging the sword. In a great sweeping flourish which surprised them all, Eric's sword tore through the branch like it was made of paper. The severed wood fell to the ground beside him with a loud thump, a clean cut having separated it from the trunk of the tree. 

Anna laughed and clapped slowly in a mock round of applause as Eric returned to them, sword now gripped in his right hand with the blade resting across his broad shoulders, the man himself grinning somewhat sheepishly at the outcome.

"OK, the muscle memory thing makes more sense now Anna. It's like my arms just, I don't know, just  _ knew _ what to do." Eric said.

"That just leaves the casters." Jonny pointed out.

Tim shared a glance with Katie and Ruby. Throwing some knives and swinging a sword was one thing, you could do that back in the real world after all, but he doubted it would be as easy to just start casting spells.

"So you realise that it's probably going to be more tricky than me just pointing and saying 'Abracadabra' right?" Tim said dryly. "The best equivalent to magic I've got are some card tricks. Card tricks which I'm shit at by the way."

Jonny indicated the gnome's belt. "Why don't you try the spellbook, mister wizard."

Tim blinked. He'd forgotten about the spellbook somehow, chained to his belt as it was. He unhooked the thick tome from its place and flipped it open, holding the book by the spine with his free hand. The writing inside was in a baffling and overly complex script which was either written in code or deliberately inside out and back to front. It was impossible for anyone without some kind of training or education in the arcane to understand.

Which is why he was so shocked that he could read it.

_ Something _ at the back of his mind started to twist a little bit from the confusion of being simultaneously able and unable to read the words in the spellbook at the same time. It was like being suddenly able to understand a second language while still hearing it in your mother tongue. Or maybe it was nothing like that, it was making his brain hurt thinking about it.

He flipped a few pages absentmindedly. He was vaguely aware of what each spell could do as he took a moment to read through a couple, and he noticed that some were much harder to decipher than others, requiring a lot more focus and concentration to even begin to understand the underlying principles. It occurred to him that those which were harder to figure out were the more powerful spells in his arsenal.

Picking at random, Tim muttered the incantation of a spell out loud and subconsciously drew a shape in the air with his staff, his arm seemingly moving by itself.

The effect was immediate. Tim suddenly felt a wellspring of power burst to life in his chest, it felt like electricity and fire all at once and within a nanosecond it had flowed through his nervous system, a web of supernatural energy which criss-crossed through his body from his fingertips all the way to his toes. It filled him to the point of bursting but it caused him no pain. Quite the opposite in fact, he felt  _ great.  _ Tim uttered an involuntary command and the gnarled roots at the tip of his staff curled open, like a fist suddenly splaying all of its fingers outward, and an unnatural light glowed in its centre as he felt the magic find a pathway to leave his body.

Then the tree burst into flames as a lightning bolt surged forth from the staff, striking the centre of the trunk.

There was a chorus of yelling and involuntary screams from the rest of the group, as well as loud cackling from Anna. Tim barely noticed, jaw hanging open and eyes wide as dinner plates behind his goggles, which he slowly pushed up to his forehead in order to get a better look at the blaze that had once been a perfectly innocent tree. A blaze that he had caused by  _ summoning lightning. _ He grinned, feeling giddy and also a little tired. It occurred to him that casting a spell must have taken a physical toll on his body but he didn't care. Not right now, not after he'd done  _ that. _

Maybe a gnome wizard was the right decision after all.

He was brought back to reality when Eric loudly cleared his throat. "Very impressive Tim, but now what are Katie and Ruby going to practice on?"

Tim giggled, shrugging and weakly muttering " _ Motherfucking lightning _ …" 

Katie laughed. "It's fine Eric. At least now we know magic is actually possible. Ruby and I can practice another time, right buddy?"

Ruby nodded, a small smile on her face, eyes still open wide in wonder at Tim's accidental display of arcane power.

Katie spoke again, pointing at the sky. "Come on everyone, let's go. We probably still have a ways to go and I'd rather not still be walking after dark."

The party headed out then, walking in single file again like earlier, only this time chattering excitedly among themselves. Morale was definitely higher than it had been and Tim was content to follow the group, gears spinning in his head as he considered his new-found abilities.

Maybe he wasn't so annoyed after all.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

It was already nearing dusk when the group finally found themselves on the outskirts of Bluethatch. The sky had changed to a deep, dark red as the sun dipped low on the horizon, and the mild warmth they had enjoyed during the day had rapidly begun to fade away as a slight chill began to set in. As for the party, one moment they had been plodding along through a small forest which the path had led them to and the next the trees had suddenly thinned out as they found themselves cresting a small slope and catching sight of the village barely a few hundred metres away.

Bluethatch could barely even be called a village really. It was more of a hamlet, half a dozen small homes made of wood and stone haphazardly placed down around a central large structure of some kind. There was a small lake and jetty just beyond the edge of the assortment of buildings and, shockingly enough, the thatch that made up the roofs of each home was, in fact, blue. In the fading light of dusk a few figures could be seen moving around between the houses, most of them seemingly heading for the large building.

Katie observed this with a feeling of slight surprise. Not only had she barely felt the long march here but now her vision was sharp as a knife even in the low light of the setting sun. It was a strange thing, being in a new body. Back home she had needed to wear reading glasses rather often and was less than keen to exert herself in a gym. She would be the first to admit that she was a bit of a weakling when it came to physical fitness. And yet as a dwarf of unknown gender, something which even she wasn't quite sure of yet, physical exertion came naturally and apparently she could now also pretty much see in the dark. She supposed it made sense, those  _ were _ supposed to be part of a dwarf’s capabilities if the rulebook was to be believed.

She followed as the rest of the group made their way toward Bluethatch, naturally having taken her place at the back of the group where she could keep an eye on everyone. Even if most of them towered over her, she still couldn't suppress her own natural instinct to look after other people. It was just in her nature, and she hoped that it would always be that way. She had already taken Ruby under her wing almost as soon as they got here, keeping the younger woman calm in this frankly terrifying situation. Katie knew it was scary enough for someone who had actually played the game before, herself included, so she could only imagine what Ruby was going through. While the earlier testing of abilities had lifted everyone else's spirits for the moment, Katie had forced herself to keep sight of the reality. This place was dangerous, it was only natural for a campaign, and she would be damned if she saw anyone get hurt because she let her guard down.

She took a moment to consider Ruby. The youngest member of the group was walking just ahead of Katie, rubbing at her skinny arms with her hands in an attempt to stave off the chill. Katie had noted with slight amusement that when they had been walking through the forest, Ruby had seemingly gotten used to her new tail. Now everytime the tiefling looked around at their surroundings, she had gotten into the habit of pointing her tail at whatever she was observing. Whether it was deliberate or not, Katie still didn't know.

Now however the younger woman's tail was drooping slightly, a sign of fatigue in Katie's opinion. She closed the gap between her and Ruby as the group made their way into the village proper, and once she was beside the tiefling, Katie tapped her on the elbow, smiling up at her.

"You look tired buddy, are you holding up OK?"

Ruby looked down at the dwarf. Her eyes were already starting to droop, her hair was in wild disarray, and her previously pristine white skirt had already picked up dust and grime up to her knees, not to mention her bare red feet were now black with encrusted muck. However, she still managed a tired smile.

"Still a bit freaked out but I guess that's normal right? In all honesty, I'm actually more hungry now." As if on cue, a low growl escaped the girl's stomach. 

Katie chuckled as Ruby squeaked out an embarrassed apology, waving it off. She had no doubt everyone else was just as hungry and thirsty. They hadn't had anything to eat all day after all, and you could only push yourself so far on adrenaline. 

They had arrived beside the large central building and Katie was quickly made aware of her own hunger as the smell of something cooking wafted its way out of one of the openings in the wall that passed for a window. She realised that her mouth had begun to water as soon as her nose caught the smell and she could dimly hear conversation, laughter and even music from inside. There was no one else around, so it looked like the villagers were all inside together, having dinner and relaxing at the end of a long day no doubt.

Eric had stopped just on the corner of the building, shushing everyone and gesturing for them all to group together. He turned and leaned down, pulling them all into a circle so they could hear each other.

"OK, we're strangers in a strange land here. We'll go in together, introduce ourselves as travelling adventurers or something and be polite,  _ Tim."  _ Eric advised.

"I resent that implication," quipped Tim.

"Look just… just be good OK?" Eric whispered, exasperated. "If we play our cards right maybe they'll share some food."

That got everyone's attention and the group nodded along in agreement, Jonny even going so far as to mimic zipping his mouth shut.

Eric nodded and gave a thumbs up. "OK, are we ready?"

As a group, they turned the corner and came to the entrance of the central building, constructed of a pair of massive wooden doors, both of which were currently swung wide open, revealing a large, lit fire pit in the centre of the wide open hall, as well as a large number of humans covering a wide range of ages sitting around it on various benches and stools, all of whom were in animated conversation. There was even one woman playing a lute, which explained the music Katie heard earlier.

When the first man let out a shocked yell at the party's appearance the only thing that was missing from the sudden silence and lack of movement was the sound of a record scratch. 

Katie mentally added it anyway.

Eric cleared his throat as a few of the younger humans were heard speaking up, asking their parents who the strangers were.

"Um. Good evening everyone! How do you do?"

The silence was deafening.

Eric bit his lower lip and tried again. "I am Eric, a paladin! And these are my companions, they-"

"We're The Avengers." Tim announced.

"No we're no-" Eric started before being interrupted again.

"The Justice League"

"Tim please-"

"The Merry Men!" 

" _ Damn it, Tim. _ "

The villagers watched this display in shock. Katie could quite clearly see the confusion written on their faces, shadows cast by the fire not affecting dwarven vision in the slightest, and she noticed a few of the younger children giggling. That was good, at least they didn't appear threatening anymore.

Katie stepped forward, the action causing the bickering behind her to stop. She surveyed the villagers a moment, noting that she was now the centre of attention. It looked like she'd have to be the diplomatic one.

"I do apologise about my friends. They're not very bright." There was a strangled yell cut short behind her as Tim started saying something before someone, probably Anna, covered his mouth with their hands. 

Katie continued. "We're travellers, just passing through these parts. Unfortunately, we've run out of rations and have been walking all day with nothing to eat. Please, all we ask is for some food and shelter for the night. By morning, I promise we'll be long gone."

The locals looked among each other but the majority seemed to be looking to one elderly woman sat at what seemed to be the head of the group, as if waiting for her verdict. Katie assumed she was some kind of village elder, and was proven right when the woman stood up with some difficulty and hobbled over.

The elderly woman was thin and frail looking but as she stopped in front of Katie, the dwarf noticed that while her face was worn with wrinkles and age, this woman still looked sharp as a tack. She stared down at Katie, who met her gaze without hesitation, maintaining eye contact and refusing to back down. She hoped that the woman would find whatever she was looking for in her expression, and not call for the several burly looking men who had also stood up by the pit to chase them off. That might get messy.

Suddenly, the elderly woman nodded and smiled warmly. "Let none say that Kayla of Bluethatch is so cold hearted as to turn away those in need. Welcome. And the rest of you hiding behind this Dwarf, come in already, you'll catch your death of cold out there before too long."

Katie let out a sigh of relief as she released the breath she didn't realise she had been holding and joined the others as they filed in and began to mingle with the locals, Ruby especially receiving both the most suspicious looks from the adults and the most questions from the children.

It had certainly been an eventful first day. Katie knew it was naive, but as she was handed a bowl of hot stew and finally took her first bite of food all day, she hoped they would all end as well as this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Tim. What a lad.
> 
> If you're reading this, thank you for reading my silly story.


	3. We're off to see the Wizard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our intrepid heroes meet an old friend of Kayla's and find out not everything is always quite what it seems.

Soft light cast by the rising sun dispelled the pre dawn gloom in the Bluethatch meeting hall and the gentle warmth on his face caused Jonny to blearily awaken and then groan, covering his eyes with his hands as they stung from the radiance. Normally he was a morning person and enjoyed sunny weather but since arriving in Vecchia and taking the form of his Drow he had noticed that the shade, or better yet the dark of night, was much preferable than sunlight to both his skin and his state of mind. So far he hadn't mentioned it to the others, but daylight seemed to put him on edge and made him feel an inexplicable discomfort when exposed for too long. 

Of course, he knew exactly why. He was a lore nerd after all. 

Drow normally dwelt in the Underdark, the dark and hostile underworld domain of Lolth the Spider God, only coming to the surface after darkness fell in search of slaves or if they needed to do so in order to further their own goals. Dark Elves were despised and feared by those on the surface and in Jonny's opinion it was the correct outlook most of the time. Personally, he had rolled a "nice" Drow by their standards, not that it mattered anymore now that he  _ was _ his character.

He yawned and closed his eyes for a few moments longer, thinking back to the previous evening when the group had been welcomed to the hall by the village Elder.

After his older sister's impressive display of diplomatic skill he and Ruby had quickly found themselves the object of the villager's suspicion and curiosity. It hadn't taken long before the locals had realised that, contrary to the tales they had no doubt heard throughout their lives, both the Drow and the Tiefling in their midst were completely harmless. He had no doubt however that this had been due to the influence of Elder Kayla, who he had soon learned was actually mother and grandmother to half the village, and the local children. Most were still quite young, and their endless curiosity about who they were and where they had come from had soon warmed the atmosphere. Naturally, they had needed to improvise slightly since they couldn't tell the truth without appearing insane but Jonny had easily fallen into the role, simply sharing an edited version of the backstory that he had made for his character.

Once the group had eaten they had been allowed by Kayla to bed down in the meeting hall as the villagers had returned to their own homes to sleep. Eric had volunteered to keep a watch for some reason and Jonny had been happy to let the big paladin do just that while he had found a comfy-ish spot on the ground to curl up and go to sleep near the dwindling embers of the fire, his tired muscles having started to ache from the day's travels and his eyes becoming too heavy to keep open.

Jonny opened his eyes again as he mentally brought himself back to the present and looked over to where Eric had sat cross-legged the previous night, head held high and sword resting across his knees. The Drow chuckled as he noticed the older man was still holding the same position, except his head was drooping forward onto his chest while emitting the sound of light snoring. Even in such a position however, the Paladin still held a quiet dignity about him.

Less dignified was the gnome currently lying flat on his back with his limbs splayed out like a starfish, snoring so loudly Jonny was surprised that the noise hadn't woken him up before the sunlight. Tim appeared to have simply chosen a spot at random a few steps away from Eric and passed out after dinner, his oversized wooden staff still gripped tightly in his right hand.

Katie and the girls had been more sensible. As Jonny pulled himself to his feet and rubbed the sleep from his eyes with the heel of his hand, he looked over to where they had chosen to bed down for the night. His sister was sitting with her back propped against the wall where she had sat down the night before, with Ruby and Anna on either side of her sitting in a similar fashion. Each of the pair was using one of the dwarf's broad shoulders as a pillow, and all three were huddled together for warmth. Jonny's gaze lingered on Anna for a moment, cheek pushed up against Katie's shoulder and drooling slightly in her sleep, before he realised he was staring and looked away to take in their surroundings instead.

Even with the warm light filtering in through the small, square holes that passed for windows in the meeting hall, most of the interior was still cast in shadow as the illumination cast by the fire pit from the night prior had long since faded away. They had helped to close the doors to the meeting hall the evening prior, leaving one of the large wooden doors slightly ajar, and he noted that they were still in the same position as he wandered out into the morning light, taking the opportunity to stretch out the ache that sleeping on the ground had left in his muscles.

It was a bright morning, with clear blue skies unblemished by clouds, and it was already feeling rather mild. The chill of dawn had lost its edge and Jonny didn't feel uncomfortable with the temperature. What did feel uncomfortable however was being directly in the sun's glare and he took a few steps into the shade cast by one of the houses, not seeing or hearing anyone else around. He would need to get his hands on a hood or cloak of some kind, at least until the logical part of his mind could convince his new, stressed out Drow body that the sun wasn't a bad thing. He exhaled slowly, covering his face with one hand while his heart rate returned to normal, and debated just going back into the hall and waiting for the others.

"Struggling, are we?" A slightly amused voice asked.

Jonny jumped and let out a very manly " _ eep! _ " at the sudden question, surprised that he had been snuck up on. He groaned as he realised it was Elder Kayla, and that she hadn't done any sneaking. It seemed he had been leaning against the wall of her home and in his distracted state hadn't even noticed that he had been standing right beside the door, which she had just now opened to find him standing here.

The elderly woman let out a loud guffaw, her open mouth revealing that she was a few teeth short of a full set, and gestured toward the door of her home. "Come on then young un', let's get you something to cover up with, eh?" She didn't wait for a response, instead stepping back into the house and leaving the door open, an invitation to enter her home. Jonny hesitated for a moment before manners and curiosity got the better of him and he took a few tentative steps inside.

Kayla's home consisted of a single room filled with her worldly belongings. It was a small and cramped space, Jonny having to tilt his head slightly to avoid bumping it on the rafters. There was a small and messy hay bed in one corner, with a wash basin and wooden chest pushed together opposite it. There were some shelves fitted above the chest with little adorning them, only some small wooden carvings and simple tools, which appeared to be for the small stove by the doorway. His host was currently rummaging around in the chest for something before suddenly pulling a large, grey fabric free and hobbling toward him, holding what he realised was the cloak out in front of her with both hands and grinning her gap-toothed grin.

"Well don't just stan' there, try it on lad." 

Jonny gingerly took the cloak from her frail hands with a stuttered thanks and held it for a moment, studying it. It  _ looked _ heavy to him but it was light and though he was no tailor, it appeared to be in surprisingly good condition. Without further ado, he threw it over his shoulders and pulled up the hood, noting a small clasp at his neckline in the shape of a shield. He used it to secure the cloak around his shoulders and wrapped it around himself, surprised at how comfortable it felt.

He spread his arms wide and grinned, feeling unnaturally confident. "How do I look?"

Kayla chuckled at him and took careful steps toward the door. "Bit big on ye' lad but ye'll grow. The previous owner was a fair big chap." She stopped as she reached the doorframe. "Be a dear and come help an old lady would ye? I've misplaced me stick."

Jonny stepped up beside the woman and offered his arm, which she clung to with surprising strength for a woman of such obvious frailty. They made their way slowly toward the meeting hall at her pace and Jonny was thankful that the cloak was keeping the sun off of his skin. The difference in his mood was noticeable, the Drow feeling much more at ease with the protection of the grey fabric. He broke the silence a few paces before the looming double doors of the hall.

"So who did the cloak belong to before?"

A small smile stretched Kayla's lips and made her wrinkles stand out even more prominently. "Just an old friend from a very long time ago youngster. Don't you go worrying, he won't miss it." 

Jonny fell quiet then, taking the hint in the tone of the old woman's voice not to ask details. 

As they reached the doors, one still left slightly ajar from earlier, Kayla gestured at it and raised an eyebrow at Jonny. "Might as well open that door up and let some light in there ta' wake up yer friends. The dwarf said you's would be gone by morning, and yet here they are, still napping." She grinned, obviously teasing.

Jonny chuckled as he heaved the door open, sore muscles already protesting at having to do any work so soon after rising from slumber. It creaked loudly as it swung outward and let out a loud bang as it slammed off the wall. The bang was followed by a loud clatter from inside as Eric leapt to his feet in bleary eyed confusion, immediately dropping his sword on the ground and prompting the others to awaken. Kayla laughed loudly.

"Very impressive bunch you lot are. Come on, wake up! Otherwise I'll need to start charging for lodgings!"

Jonny folded his arms and smirked slightly, already taking a liking to the village Elder and leaning against the wall as the rest of the group wandered out into the morning light, all grumbling and in various stages of wakefulness as they crowded in front of Kayla. Anna was the last to step outside, shielding her eyes from the sun and groaning slightly. She glanced over to Jonny and nodded.

"Morning. Cool cloak."

Jonny didn't react and Anna shrugged, turning away and wandering over to where Eric was thanking Kayla for allowing them to stay the night and giving them dinner. Jonny wasn't really paying attention though, as he was too busy screaming internally to focus on the conversation.

_ She said I looked cool! _

"Jonny!"

He was jerked out of his thoughts as Tim's voice cut through his mind, the gnome looking back at him and tapping his wrist, as if indicating a watch. "Earth to Jonny, I said are you coming?"

Jonny blinked. "Coming where?"

Tim sighed and shook his head. "Stop daydreaming and pay attention. Turns out Mike did pass through here months ago, and our most kind host says she knows where he was going." 

Jonny turned his attention back to the elderly woman the group were paying attention to, who just gave him a cheeky, gap-toothed grin. "Aye he was looking for a way home, he said. I telt him his best bet was an old friend of mine." She pointed to a path that lead out of the village, and followed the waterline of the lake which Bluethatch sat upon the edge of. "Go til you reach the fork in the path, then go right. Keep going til you run outta path, then follow the blue flowers. You'll know the ones I mean. You'll find Aust's tower there."

Jonny furrowed his brow, confused, and asked her a question as the others began to head out, following Eric. "Aust? Who's Aust?"

Kayla smiled her gap-toothed grin one more time. "Someone who can help you. He's a  _ wizard. _ "

\-------------------------------------------------------

They were in a forest again and Anna couldn't help but smile. She had always been a fan of nature and the outdoors but with her new, keener senses the Half Elf was greatly appreciating the walk from Bluethatch to wherever it was the wizard lived. 

After the group had left the village they had followed Eric, who Anna was thankful had actually been paying attention to the directions given by the old woman who had so rudely awoken them. As they had followed the path on the edge of the lake the mood had dipped as the morning sun was obscured by grey clouds and the wind had picked up. Before long the mood had been literally dampened further by the light rain which had left them all dripping wet. 

Fortunately, they had soon reached the fork in the path mentioned by Kayla and before long had found themselves once again among the trees, where there was at least a little cover from the relentless drizzle which had yet to let up. Anna didn't mind, enjoying the sound of the water pattering against the leaves above and the smells of the forest which the rain only amplified. Even her currently sodden clothing wasn't enough to ruin the boost to her morale that just being near nature gave.

While the others had chosen to walk in a single file on the path behind Eric, who had once again taken the lead, Anna found herself drifting on and off the footpath. Eventually they had run out of path and continued onward through the underbrush but Anna wouldn't let a little thing like that halt her exploration. This had drawn the ire of Tim, who had yelled something about getting separated from the group, but she didn't really care. She was having fun looking at the different flowers scattered around on their route and finding evidence of small woodland creatures having passed by recently. Anna didn't quite understand how she suddenly had the knowledge to recognise these signs or how she could list off the uses of some of the flowers she had seen, having once almost been left behind when she had taken the time to pick a few earlier, but she just put it down to the same odd thing that had brought them here and somehow also made her a deadeye shot with a bow.

Anna wasn't one to overthink things, preferring action over discussion or study, and she wasn't going to start now. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud squeal from what sounded like Ruby. Anna realised that she had fallen behind slightly and hurried to catch up with the group, footfalls light as a feather and her hand unconsciously reaching for her bow as she followed the crushed leaves and disturbed branches that betrayed the party's passing. 

She needn't have worried. Anna breathed a small sigh of relief as she found the others unharmed and crowding around something. Ruby turned to look at her with her hands over her mouth and eyes full of wonder.

"It's so pretty!" she whispered, before looking back to the object of their attention.

As the Half Elf approached the group, she heard Jonny and Tim speaking.

"That's not normal," the gnome stated, leaning against his staff.

"It might be, we're not in Kansas anymore Tim," responded Jonny. "Besides, looks like the Elder was right about us knowing them when we see them."

"How dare you quote the Wizard of Oz at me." Tim responded flatly.

Anna pushed her way to the front of the semicircle made up of the other party members and had a look at what had brought them to a halt, vaguely registering Katie saying something to Eric about how close they must be to their destination.

It was a flower. Like most flowers it had petals and a pleasant aroma, with a light purple colouring and a shape reminiscent of a tulip. Unlike most flowers, it was glowing, and instead of being rooted to the ground it was floating several feet above it, with tendrils of pulsing blue energy leashing it to the surrounding plants and trees.

Anna paused, as even her newly discovered knowledge of the forests was failing her at the moment. 

"Yep. Gotta agree with Tim, not normal." 

The gnome nodded to her in response and then pointed his staff at the flower, careful not to get too close. "Definitely magic. I can  _ smell _ it."

"How does one smell magic, Tim?" Eric asked.

"By being a motherfucking wizard, that's how," was Tim's retort. "Don't ask stupid questions. I just…  _ know _ things now. Magic things."

Katie hummed, the Dwarf tapping their lower lip with a finger. "That makes about as much sense as the rest of this situation. Questions for later I suppose, let's get going."

"But which way now?" Eric questioned.

They were answered with a shocked gasp from Ruby. "Guys, over there! Another one!" The Tiefling pointed further into the treeline with excitement, where the purple glow of another of the strange flowers could be seen.

"Flower trail. Sick." Anna said, not waiting for the others and making her way toward it, curious about what the flowers actually were. "Come on, I wanna find more!" 

It wasn't hard to find more. Each time the group came across one of the flowers, someone would spot another a short distance away, and the group would continue on. Eventually Anna prodded one out of curiosity, earning an explosive outburst from Tim but no reaction from the flower itself. After a while, the excitement wore off and the grumbling started as time ticked onward and they found no sign of an end to the cycle of following the trail of flowers.

It took another hour before they noticed any progress. At first, the trees around them started to thin out as they tracked the flowers and then the underbrush started to become more sparse. They soon found themselves on the edge of a small clearing, somewhere deep in the forest. The middle of the clearing was dominated by a tower of grey stone, taller than any of the trees, and so crooked that it looked as if a slight gust of wind would be enough to send it toppling over. Anna noticed that save for the simple wooden door at its base, the tower was unblemished stonework all the way up to the top, where she could see what appeared to be a small room with a tiny window. As they cautiously closed the gap with the tower, she felt sorry for whoever lived up there. The tower itself was barely wide enough to house what she assumed would be a circular stairway inside and the room on top was only just wider than that. She suspected there might not even be enough space for the entire group.

Once the party reached the base of the tower, still slightly wary but now confident that there was nothing about to immediately blow up in their faces, Eric held up a fist and looked back at the group.

"I'll go first guys. Besides, looks like we'll need to walk up there one at a time. Doesn't seem like there's much space."

Anna stayed with the others as Eric approached the door and grabbed the handle. He waited for a few seconds, exhaling loudly and leaning back slightly, before squeezing his eyes shut and cracking the door open. It swung inward, and when nothing happened, Eric opened one eye and pushed the door open further, peering inside to take a look. Then he closed the door and stared at it, befuddled.

"What?" Anna asked, concerned by his actions. "What's wrong?"

Eric didn't answer, instead deciding to walk around the circumference of the tower and occasionally tapping the stonework with a gauntleted fist, brow furrowed in confusion.

"Eric? Hello? What's the problem?" Katie piped up.

Eric held up a hand to the group, requesting silence. Then he marched over to the door again and opened it up, looking inside once more, before leaning back and looking at the tower exterior again. Finally, he spoke.

"This is the weirdest thing ever and it's gonna give you a headache. Come look guys."

Anna wandered over beside the Paladin as he pushed the door open to expose the interior of the tower. She gasped as she realised her guess had been half right, there  _ was  _ a spiral stone staircase leading up to the top of the tower.

However unlike the tiny, grey staircase she had imagined, it was wide enough to fit four people walking abreast, with an intricately carved wooden handrail on the outer edge and torch sconces placed at intervals along the wall, following the stairs upward and casting a bright light into the tower.

It was also physically impossible for it to fit in the, from the outside at least, narrow tower. And yet, here it was, unless her eyes were playing tricks on her. Eric was right, it was giving her a headache.

Tim was next to arrive and peeked in as Eric walked through the doorway, letting out a low whistle. "This is some Doctor Who shit, folks."

"Doctor Who?" Eric questioned.

"Yes."

"No I meant who is-" Eric sighed, giving up at the sight of Tim's grin. "Nevermind, can we focus? Let's find this wizard."

There was no argument. They made their way up the stairs in pairs, Katie and Eric in the lead, Jonny and Tim behind and Anna and Ruby taking the rear. Anna's ears were ringing slightly from the echoing sound of their footsteps by the time they reached the top of the stairway, but as they stepped out into the room at the tower's peak her eyes grew wide with shock. She heard Tim let out another low whistle as they gathered together and took in the sight of the Wizard's abode.

Opulent was the first word that sprung to mind. They were standing in the centre of the room, which had dimensions that made Anna think of the lobby of some grand, five star hotel back home. The floor was constructed of polished stone and the roof was held up by two pillars of white marble which flanked either side of the staircase. At their feet was luxurious green carpet which ran from the stairs to the opposite wall, where a raised dais of stone with an unnatural archway of floating stones etched with strange runes was waiting. Behind the dias, the wall had been removed and instead there was a large, stained glass window which allowed the light from the sun to shine directly onto the construct. As Anna looked up to the roof, she noted that the peak of the tower held another circular pane of stained glass.

Just off to one side of the dais was a huge bookcase laden with tomes, and the other a large and elegant table, carved of dark wood and heaving under the weight of various scrolls, glasswork and contraptions she couldn't name. Of more interest however was the high backed armchair beside this table, or rather the current occupant of it.

He was an elf. The pointed ears and high cheekbones gave that away immediately. His eyes were an emerald green, so bright it was apparent even at this distance, and his hair was a pale white, pulled back into a simple ponytail. Anna couldn't be sure exactly what kind of elf he was, there were too many for her to bother remembering if you included  _ every _ kind, but his skin was a soft golden colour and as he stood it was apparent that he was taller than even Eric. Anna couldn't even take a guess at his age however, as the Elf's pristine features were unmarred by the ravages of time. He could have been twenty five, or a thousand, or any number of years in between.

He walked forward to meet them as the group approached, face set in stone and head held high, giving nothing away. However, he wasn't acting overtly hostile  _ yet, _ so Anna opted not to aim an arrow at his head to keep him sweet. The robe he wore was a brilliant shade of gold similar to his skin and it flowed out dramatically behind him as he came to a stop in front of the group, looking over them with a critical eye. Before anyone could break the silence, he inclined his head very slightly to Katie, the dwarf raising an eyebrow as he did so, and spoke.

"Kayla mentioned that I would be receiving guests lead by a dwarf. It took you long enough, I've been watching you stumble your way here for over an hour." His voice was deeper than Anna expected, its booming sound well suited to the expansive hall of his home.

Eric looked taken aback when the wizard referred to Katie as the leader but he missed his chance to object as the dwarf replied.

"I take it you're Aust then, and we haven't accidentally wandered into the wrong wizard's tower?" 

The wizard's stone faced expression didn't crack in the slightest. If he realised that Katie was making a joke, he showed no sign of it. "You would be correct. I am indeed Aust."

"Wait a second," interrupted Tim, his arms folded across his chest, "how did you know we were coming? And what do you mean Kayla mentioned it? She's back in that village of hers."

Aust turned his gaze on Tim then, and his mask slipped very slightly for a moment, revealing annoyed disappointment. The loudmouth gnome actually shrank slightly under the scrutiny as Aust spoke. 

"There is more to Kayla than meets the eye, Gnome. And I would have thought a wizard-" he indicated Tim's spellbook, "-would recognise an early warning system when he saw one. I assume you are one of the Assembly's wizards, trained en masse and unleashed on an unsuspecting world? It would explain your lack of knowledge." His voice never raised above a monotone but it was scathing nonetheless.

As Tim looked to Jonny and whispered "what the fuck is the Assembly?" Aust turned his back on the group and clasped his hands behind it, taking slow, measured steps toward the dais. He stopped after several steps and looked back, raising an eyebrow. "Well come on then. I haven't got all day."

Anna looked at the other members of the group, all of whom joined her in looking at each other in their now usual confusion, before Ruby raised a shaking hand. Aust nodded to her and she asked, "um… all day for what?"

Aust raised his other eyebrow, slightly surprised. "You wish to find your friend, correct? When he came to me, he asked to go to Stonehaven. I certainly hope he isn't still there, the recent news has been… unsettling." 

Tim waved a hand as he stepped forward, clearly annoyed at Aust's earlier dismissal of him. "Yeah, we know that part, how do we get there?"

The Elf indicated the dais. "This is a teleportation circle. They are  _ extremely  _ tricky to use properly and incredibly rare. I know of only a few others in Vecchia. I sent-Mike was it?-to Stonehaven with this. You shall follow."

There was silence. Then it was broken by Jonny.

"This is  _ awesome! _ I've always wanted to be teleported!"

Tim nodded. "Fuck yeah, how we doing this? Uh, I mean obviously  _ I  _ know but please Aust, explain for my less learned colleagues." There was a groan from Eric.

Aust merely beckoned them to join him on the dais, which they did quickly. He pointed to a large, blank circle of stone in the centre which was encircled by smaller stone squares inscribed with mystical, runic script. Anna could see Tim looking at them and moving his lips, trying to read them under his breath, when Aust spoke again.

"Stand in the central circle, do not move unless I explicitly allow it and remain silent as I perform the spell." 

"What happens if we don't do that?" Jonny questioned.

"Ever seen what happens to a man smoking a pipe near black powder?" Aust deadpanned.

The group huddled closer together on the blank stone and clamped their mouths shut.

"Good." Aust stated simply. He reached into the sleeve of his robe and pulled out a wand, a simple stick whittled into a point by the look of it, and began to chant in a language that Anna vaguely recognised the sound of. Immediately, the runic inscriptions on the floor around them and on the floating stones above began to flash with magical power, white sparks and crackling lightning travelling between the two and a dome of energy began to swirl around the group.

Aust waved his hands in slow, intricate motions, his chanting growing faster and louder. He moved the wand like a conductor's baton, gradually increasing how broad the sweeping motions he made were, when suddenly he spoke a single word of power. Anna  _ felt _ the air around them crystallise and then shatter, heard the sound of space stretching and as she smelt the sudden stench of burning ozone everything stopped. Before she could question what was happening, everything went white.

The party vanished in a flash of lightning and fire. Unbeknownst to them, Aust let his arms fall to his side and breathed a sigh of relief, tired from the effort of teleporting six people halfway across the kingdom. He stepped up to admire the results of his handiwork when he noted something slightly out of place. Something he had overlooked.

"Oh.  _ Bugger. _ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh. I wonder what went wrong?
> 
> If you're reading this, thank you for reading my silly story. I hope you're enjoying it as much as I enjoy writing it.


	4. Swords and Sorcery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party are surprised to find themselves in the wrong place and at very much the wrong time.

It is not a pleasant experience to be teleported, especially the very first time one experiences it. A number of physical laws must be violated in order for a body and mind to be instantaneously moved from one point in space to another and the Universe does not take kindly to such rule-breaking. As such, it gets its own back on the offender by making that instant of travel very uncomfortable, body and mind feeling both stretched and compressed simultaneously, and every molecule of the physical being losing structure and making one feel less like a person and more like a soup of the individual parts that make up the body. Consciousness becomes a broken, twisted mess as the mind tries and fails to make sense of what is happening and all sense of self is lost, leaving only the capacity to feel raw emotion and animal instinct. The only thing that makes the pain of the experience endurable is that it lasts only a moment before reality snaps back and the person pops back into existence an impressive distance away from their starting point.

Eric was aware of none of this, nor would he understand any of the magical experimentation or theories that have lead the wizards of The Assembly to this conclusion. All Eric knew was that he had a terrible headache, felt a deep chill and had a desperate need to throw up, which he promptly did, heaving and coughing for a few seconds after doing so, before wiping away the trail of spit hanging from his lips with the back of his gauntlet as he stood there hunched over with his other hand on his knee. He heard the groaning of the others in a circle around him and the stink of vomit assaulted his nostrils as he realised that they too had suffered the same side effects. 

He distinctly heard Jonny say, “I’ve changed my mind. Fuck teleportation.”

Eric gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand up straight, ignoring the feeling of his brain attempting to escape his skull, and doing a quick headcount to make sure that all six of them had arrived safely. The worst affected appeared to be Tim, as while the others in the group had already started to stand back up straight and show signs of recovery like Eric, Tim was still on his hands and knees, groaning loudly.

The Paladin breathed a quiet sigh of relief, sure that the Wizard would recover soon enough. None of them were aware, but he still felt responsible for their being stuck here, and as such made a point of taking the lead and keeping an eye on everyone. After all, he was the one who had helped Mike organise the game night in the first place and none of them would be here if it weren’t for him. He felt especially guilty about Ruby, the youngest of the group and his co-worker back home, who had absolutely no experience with either the world or the game itself and who had been so excited when he had extended the invitation to play to her. And now, like the rest of them, she was stuck here until they could find a way back.

He would get them all home safe. He swore it on his life.

It was only then that he heard the panicked yelling of someone close by. His head snapped around as the shrill shout pierced the air and he heard the others around him go quiet, their impending grumbling having been interrupted. They were currently at the base of what seemed to be a deep ditch roughly ten feet deep, a steep incline before them leading up to what appeared to be the flat surface of a road, and the sound of shouting and screaming was coming from just beyond where the peak of the incline was blocking his vision. He shared a look with Katie, the Dwarf locking eyes with him and shaking their head very slightly as the other members of the party grouped up around them both, Tim having managed to stand up at the sound but still looking very pale and supporting himself with his staff.

“What was that?” Ruby asked, a touch of fear in her voice. “Is someone in trouble?”

“Definitely sounds like trouble,” was Anna’s reply. “Let’s check it out!”

“No.” Katie’s reply brooked no argument, the steel in the Dwarf’s voice only reinforced by the deep, gruff timbre that came with Dwarven vocal chords. “We’re not getting involved. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this, plus it’s too risky. Right, Eric?”

Eric didn’t respond. She was right, it  _ was _ too risky. They had barely been here for two days and they still had no idea where they were. He had already noticed a thin layer of frost on the ground, as well as puffs of air from the mouths of the others in the party when they breathed, meaning Aust had probably managed to send them North instead of South. On top of that, they still barely knew anything about the world or even Vecchia itself, if Vecchia was indeed still where they were. The sensible thing to do would be to wait until the trouble passed and then follow the road to the nearest town or village and try to find Mike again.

It was the sensible thing to do.

But he felt like it wasn’t the  _ right _ thing to do.

He couldn’t just stand idly by. Something in what felt like the depths of his very soul was whispering in his ear, filling his head with the thought of innocents suffering, and he could feel the glowing embers of anger building in his gut. It wasn’t just his conscience. It was something else, something more powerful, and he didn’t care to dwell on what it was. All he knew was that people were in trouble and that he was in a position to help. How could he live with himself if he did nothing?

“Eric?”

He took a single step forward and suddenly he was running up the incline to the road, drawing his sword as he did so and ignoring the combined yells of shock and whoops of excitement that were raised behind him, dimly aware of the pounding of five pairs of feet following him. As he came to the top of the ditch and secured his footing he looked for the source of the screaming, which was immediately apparent.

It turned out that they were indeed right beside a road, one made of cobblestone and at least six feet wide, which was currently occupied by two groups. The first were a pair of Elves, wearing warm looking cloaks which hid their builds, both of whom stood on top of a wooden cart, hugging one another and screaming in terror. One of them was already bleeding from a wound on the cheek and they were up to their knees in what looked like sheaves of wheat. The pair were wild eyed and panicking, blinded to Eric’s arrival by the sight of the second group.

Around the cart, roaring in a guttural language and waving a variety of weapons around, were six Orcs. Each stood at over six feet tall and were heavily muscled creatures, with green skin, a pair of stubby, sharp tusks jutting up from their lower jaws and clad in leather and furs. They seemed to be content in striking the cart with their weapons and laughing as the Elves cried out in fear.

Eric felt his blood boil.

He let out a yell as the others caught up with him, standing haphazardly around him as they froze in shock at the sight of the Orcs turning their gazes onto them instead of their current prey. Eric raised his sword with one hand, pointing the blade at the closest Orc and meeting its confused and annoyed gaze with his own, his face a mask of controlled fury.

“Let them go, and leave. Now.”

The Orcs stared at Eric, brows furrowed and mouths hanging slightly agape. Around him, he could hear shuffling as the others made their own weapons ready and tried to look dangerous. The green skinned monsters looked at each other for a few seconds, clearly not expecting to be interrupted and most certainly not by such a strange group as theirs, before one turned his head and shouted something in their own language.

From behind the cart stepped out a seventh Orc, except this one was different. Eric heard a sharp intake of breath from Jonny as the beast made its presence known.

Beast. That was an apt description. This Orc stood at seven feet tall, with grey skin heavily tattooed with white symbols and shapes of unknown meaning. Its tusks looked more like knives than the stubby points of bone of its fellows and it carried a sword in each hand. It had black hair braided into a single, thick dreadlock style running along the centre of its scalp and down into a ponytail that extended as far as its lower back. It wore furs on its legs and feet, but the arms and torso were left bare, exposing its dense musculature and the heavy scarring of old wounds. As the beast advanced the other Orcs stepped aside with heads bowed slightly as it came to the front of the group, before they lined up beside their leader with practiced ease. It snorted as it locked eyes with Eric and sneered, unimpressed, and the Paladin felt the heavy weight of dread settle into the bottom of his empty stomach. He knew enough to figure out what this one was. 

An Uruk, the bigger and meaner version of an Orc, who were already big and mean enough.

“Maybe… we can talk about this?” Tim asked hopefully.

The response was a roar of challenge from the Uruk which was echoed by its followers as they charged the party together, the Uruk maintaining its position with both arms outstretched, baring its chest and jutting out its jaw in defiance.

Eric’s body reacted before his brain, falling into a battle stance and standing ready with both hands on the pommel of his sword, which he held at the height of his shoulder, blade pointed toward the enemy. The Orcs had covered no more than two or three strides when he heard the twang of a bowstring being released as Anna reacted to the approaching danger by delivering an arrow into the chest of one of the Orcs, who was immediately knocked onto his back by the force delivered from the bow.

One down.

As Eric took a few steps forward to close the gap between himself and the enemy who were almost on top of him, he noticed that the Uruk had begun to stride toward them. Within a moment, however, he found himself completely focused on combat. Two of the Orcs came bearing down on him as the other three charged at his allies. Eric just had to hope they could take care of themselves as he threw himself into the fight. 

One of the Orcs reached him a split second before the other, crude looking axe raised and then swung wildly at him in a downward swing. Moving on instinct alone, Eric sidestepped the attack and simultaneously swung his sword diagonally across the torso of the Orc, steel meeting flesh with a sickening squelching sound as his blade tore through muscle and sinew in a great gouge across the Orc’s abdomen and chest. His sword was bathed in the Orc’s blood as it collapsed forwards face first and its life was extinguished, the corpse going still and the reek of fresh blood filling the air.

Two down.

Eric didn’t have time to think about the life he had just taken, having to immediately lean backward at the waist in order to narrowly avoid having his throat cut by a wild horizontal slash by the second Orc, who was roaring in anger at the loss of its ally and was so close that Eric could smell the stink of its breath as it lunged toward him again. Eric took a step backward, then dashed to the side as the Orc overreached with the next strike of its sword, leaving Eric facing toward the others and with his opponent off balance and with its back to him. He didn’t hesitate, plunging the sword into the Orc’s back and hearing the splash of blood on the road as it spilled from the new hole in the Orc’s chest. He withdrew the blade as the Orc sank to its knees, gasping for breath that wouldn’t come, and slumped to the ground sideways.

Three down.

Eric took a moment to observe the other members of his group. Anna currently had an Orc on its knees while she strangled it from behind with her bow, the string of the weapon wrapped around its throat while she pulled the body of the bow as hard as she could from behind with both hands and pressed one foot against the Orc’s back in order to get more purchase. The creature’s eyes bulged and its mouth opened and shut in a fruitless attempt to get air before its eyes rolled upward and it went limp. Jonny was already wiping his knives clean of blood on the arm of the Orc he had taken down, which was currently lying face down in a pool of its own blood, still flowing freely into the expanding puddle from where Jonny had cut its throat faster than it had expected him to move.

Five down.

Eric felt the icy grip of fear in his heart as he noticed the last Orc. It must have hesitated as its fellows died before it but apparently had now found the motivation to avenge them, as it charged straight towards Ruby. She was flanked on either side by Tim and Katie but they both seemed to be rooted to the spot in fear, neither making a move as the Orc loomed over Ruby and raised its sword, roaring in triumph. Eric was already moving forward but he was too far away, too slow, she was going to die and he couldn’t do anything about it. The woman let out a cry of fear and raised her hands, desperately pressing her palms against the Orc’s chest in a futile attempt to push it away.

And reminding everyone that a Tiefling is never defenseless.

In the instant before Ruby’s palms touched the torso of the Orc, they glowed a brilliant orange and upon contact the Orc’s entire upper body burst into flames as Infernal power surged through the Tiefling. There was the smell of cooked flesh and boiling fat, the stink of burning hair and a terrible screaming as the Orc dropped its club and flailed in agony, running past Ruby in a futile attempt to find some way to extinguish the flames. In mere moments, it collapsed, flames still licking at the corpse and smoke wafting in the breeze as it succumbed to its fate. Ruby stared at her hands in shock, tears welling up in her eyes and complete horror written on her expression. Eric breathed a sigh of relief, at least she was unharmed.

Then he remembered the Uruk and realised he had made a mistake as he heard it roar right behind him.

Eric hit the ground hard as he dove forward, a glancing blow from a sword causing a bloom of pain across his upper back that knocked him over, the force from even a glancing hit being enough to knock him off balance. What was worse, he had dropped his sword. Eric rolled onto his back as adrenaline suppressed the pain from the strike and he looked up at the towering figure of the Uruk as it raised both swords over its head, expression twisted in absolute fury and mouth wide open as it roared in triumph. He put up a hand in a pointless act of defense as the swords came down toward him.

They never connected. At the last instant there was a yell and suddenly the Uruk was knocked aside, stumbling as Jonny tackled the beast, both of his knives drawn and swinging wildly. The Uruk quickly regained its balance, letting out a pained grunt as Jonny sliced one of its hands with a knife, causing the Uruk to drop a sword. Jonny leapt back as the Uruk swung its remaining weapon at him, the Drow Rogue light on his feet and too fast for the monster.

Or so he assumed.

As Jonny darted forward again to try and take down the Uruk face to face, its injured but free hand suddenly shot forward and grabbed him by the throat, before lifting him off of the ground. Eric watched in horror as Jonny kicked his feet uselessly and dropped his knives, both hands gripping the forearm of the Uruk, clawing fruitlessly at the skin in an attempt to break free. Suddenly the Uruk roared and slammed Jonny into the ground, letting go of his throat and growling at the Drow, who coughed roughly and weakly tried to draw one of the throwing knives from his bandoleer.

The Uruk noticed, and without hesitation bent down, yanked the knife Jonny was fumbling for from his hand and plunged it into his stomach.

Jonny’s scream of agony was matched only by the horrified screaming of Katie.

He watched in a state of numbness as the beast stood up and casually retrieved its sword. An arrow was fired toward it, but the Uruk moved inhumanly fast, parrying the arrow with ease and stalking toward Jonny, who was coughing up blood and clutching at the knife in his belly.

Eric didn’t remember picking up his sword, nor did he remember what he screamed at the Uruk. All he knew was that instead of finishing off Jonny, it had looked toward him and snarled, before charging. Eric didn’t hesitate, he pushed off from his back foot and met the charge.

Their blades clashed, sparking as steel met steel. The Uruk had two swords and it swung both in the same fashion as it drove Eric back, unprepared as he was for the power and viciousness of the Uruk’s assault. Every single blow which he blocked or parried made his bones shake and his muscles burn but the Paladin grit his teeth and pushed through the pain. They duelled, taking turns thrusting, parrying and evading each other’s strikes, the advantage clearly on the Uruk’s side but Eric absolutely refusing to yield. This beast, this monster, this  _ thing _ had set its creatures on Eric and his friends. It had tried to kill Jonny, it was currently trying to kill him and if he let it, it would try and kill everyone else.

Fuck.

That.

Eric spat out blood as the Uruk suddenly hammered its elbow across his face and he had to scramble aside as it pushed the upper hand and tried to run him through with both swords. Eric was breathing heavily while the Uruk appeared unphased, circling him now as he raised his weapon. He could feel himself getting slower, all the creature had to do was outlast him and eventually fatigue would be his end. He was running on adrenaline and stubbornness alone at this stage, and he knew that it wouldn’t be enough. The Uruk struck its blades together in an attempt to intimidate him and bared its throat, lower jaw jutting forward and snarling as it did so. 

In that brief respite between blows, Eric spared Jonny a glance. The younger man was still moving slightly and both Katie and Anna had already run to his side as soon as Eric had drawn the Uruk into a one-on-one duel. From the look on Katie’s face, the Dwarf was in shock and was just holding Jonny’s hand, babbling something Eric didn’t care to make out right now. He was focused on the sound Jonny was making. The Rogue was crying, his sobs and gasps laced with fear and pain as he bled, nothing more than a scared and dying boy. The sound broke Eric’s heart.

And it hardened his resolve.

The Uruk tilted its head as Eric let his sword hang limply at his side and he locked eyes with the beast, confusion evident in its expression as Eric’s own became set in stone. Then the Paladin spoke, not knowing from whence the words came.

“By my Oath, you die today.”

The Uruk took a step back as Eric’s blade suddenly blazed with holy light, the radiance blinding to his enemy, who instinctively raised an arm to defend its eyes. Eric didn’t hesitate and surged forward, body ablaze with power and resolute in his objective.

The first swing severed the Uruk’s left arm and it let out a scream of surprise and pain. The second strike severed the right arm, which fell to the ground with a heavy thud, the Uruk looking down at it in absolute shock. Eric roared as he made his third swing, severing the creature’s head which bounced off the road and then rolled away to a stop, the Uruk’s expression still the shocked surprise of its final moments.

It took a second for the Uruk’s body to get the message that it was dead but when it did, it simply toppled over backward and landed with a loud thump, the kill was entirely blood free as the stumps that were once the head and arms were completely cauterized. The moment the corpse fell, the radiant light of Eric’s sword blinked out and he lost his grip on the pommel, the sword clattering onto the road as he fell to his knees, utterly exhausted. The last thing Eric heard before darkness took him was Ruby’s voice yelling his name.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
  


As she watched Eric slump to the ground unconscious it occured to Ruby that this was, by far, the worst day of her entire life.

Yesterday had just been odd, yesterday had just been plenty of walking and meeting some strange people. She had been constantly anxious and worried about their situation and the unknowns that lurked in this world she knew absolutely nothing about but that had been slowly easing off since she had woken up in Bluethatch this morning. She had even briefly forgotten to be scared when they had come across the magical flowers that lead to Aust’s tower, as well as been in awe when they had gone inside.

And now Eric had collapsed, Jonny was dying and _she_ _had_ _just killed someone._

Ruby’s vision blurred as the tears came unbidden to her eyes. She couldn’t stop replaying the moment in her head over and over again. The green person who had charged at her, bloodlust evident in his features, who had gotten so close to her that she had been able to smell the stink of his breath and see the anger in his eyes. 

Anger that had turned to pure terror as she set him ablaze.

There was a small, logical part of her that pointed out that he had been about to kill her first, that her life had been in danger and she had acted instinctively to defend herself. It hadn’t been deliberate, she didn’t even know where that power had come from or how she had channeled it into the flames that had consumed the man, she felt certain that she would be unable to recreate it on command if asked. But it didn’t help, she still felt sick to the very core of her being. 

She looked back over her shoulder at the smoking ruin of a corpse that had once been a living, breathing person before turning away and taking a moment to look at her palms. Maybe it was good that her skin had turned red, maybe it would help her forget the blood on her hands.

And then there was the other small part of her. The part that would sometimes whisper ideas in her ear just before she fell asleep, the part which would rear its ugly head when she was  _ really _ angry and which would tempt her into breaking all the little rules and conventions that civilised people maintain. The part which she knew all people had tucked away in the depths of their mind and which she hoped they all pushed down deep.

The part that had  _ enjoyed _ it. The part of her that now had a taste of power and wanted more.

Ruby sniffled, then began to sob as the tears ran down her cheeks and fell to the ground, mixing with the blood that had soaked the road. She clutched her head and rocked back and forth on her feet, shaking her head and whispering to herself.

“I wanna go home, I wanna go home, I wanna go home…”

Then she heard the tapping of wood on stone and looked up, eyes still wet and taking heaving breaths of air between sobs. Tim was hobbling his way over to Jonny, face still pale and visibly sweating after the earlier teleportation, where he joined Anna and Katie, both of whom were still trying to tend to the fallen Drow.

“I don’t know what to do, what do we do? I’m so sorry Jay, I’m so sorry…” Katie babbled, still holding her brother’s hand and staring at the handle of the blade still sticking out of his stomach as he coughed up more blood and gasped for air.

“We gotta do something! We gotta… we gotta… I dunno what we gotta but we can’t just sit here and wait for him to die!” Anna yelled. “Damn it all, why didn’t I put a fucking arrow in that big fucker’s eye when I had the chance!?”

Ruby watched as Tim stopped beside the pair who fell silent at his arrival. He didn’t have to kneel down, he was already face to face with Anna thanks to his Gnomish stature, and he sighed at the sight of Jonny.

“Got an idea? I dunno first aid or anything, do we leave the knife in or pull it out? What do we do?” Anna looked at Tim, hoping he would have an answer.

“If you leave the knife in, he’ll die. If you pull it out, he’ll die faster. We’re who knows how far from anywhere and he needs surgery, proper surgery not whatever passes for it in this world,” the Gnome observed, idly playing with his moustache as he spoke. “There’s only one hope.”

“Which is?” Katie whispered.

“Pray.”

Ruby took a few steps towards the others before freezing in place when Anna snarled at Tim.

“Pray? PRAY!? That’s it? That’s all you’ve got!? You useless fucking-”

Anna fell silent and stared at Tim in shock as he bonked her on the head with his staff, not quite believing what he had just done.

“Not us. Katie.” Tim explained.

The Dwarf looked up at Tim, confused. “Me? What do you-” suddenly her eyes widened in understanding as her mind grabbed onto the idea and broke her out of her state of shock. “No way. No way, what if it doesn’t work?”

“Then he’s dead. Anna, go check on Eric.”

Ruby glanced over to where Eric had collapsed after his vicious duel with the big grey one. He hadn’t moved since he fell and she felt a deep guilt that she hadn’t thought to check on him herself, as busy as she had been beating herself up. For a moment it seemed that Anna would argue with Tim but she clamped her jaw shut and glared instead, before standing up and jogging over to Eric. The Half-Elf lowered herself onto her hands and knees and put her ear to his mouth, before raising her hand high with a thumbs up. He was breathing, at least.

Ruby looked back to Tim and Katie, the latter of whom had closed her eyes and was breathing deeply, hands bunched into fists. 

“OK, OK, what do I do?”

“I pull it out, you pray, as hard as you bloody well can.” Tim said, indicating the knife.

The Dwarf nodded, exhaling deeply and picking up her staff.

“Do it.”

Tim didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the handle of the knife and pulled it free, earning a scream of pain from Jonny and staining more of the road in crimson as blood dripped from the knife. 

Katie didn’t hesitate. The moment the knife was pulled free she placed her empty hand over the bleeding wound, palm pressed down firmly, and the Dwarf’s eyes closed again. 

Nothing happened at first and Ruby felt fear grip her heart as Jonny’s breathing became even more shallow and his eyes began to droop shut.

And then the jewel set in the tip of Katie’s staff began to glow with a gentle golden light, matched by the same rays of illumination which streamed out from under the Cleric’s hand, bathing Jonny in the rays. The effect was immediate, his breathing evening out and becoming stronger, and his moans of pain ceasing entirely. It took only a few seconds for Katie to return to normal, at which point she immediately removed her hand to check on the wound. Then she covered her mouth with that same hand at what she saw.

The bleeding had stopped. It wasn’t easy to tell from the amount of it which still clung to Jonny’s clothes but there was no more fresh blood seeping from a wound. In fact, it looked as if there was no wound at all anymore. Jonny himself had gone quiet, having passed out during the healing process, and Tim knelt down as he pressed two fingers against a part of Jonny’s neck just under his jawline.

“Stable pulse, bleeding stopped, thank  _ fuck, _ ” sighed Tim, standing up straight again while using his staff as support.

Ruby couldn’t believe it and she realised that she had already accepted that Jonny was going to die. But there he was, sleeping on the ground and still breathing, with no more hole in his gut for his life’s essence to come pouring out of. It was a miracle.

“He’s lost a lot of blood, even with the healing. He’s going to need some time to rest up and recover,” advised Tim. He looked over as Anna gingerly approached, having left Eric when Katie’s staff had lit up. The Wizard frowned in annoyance as he noted her presence. “And so will Eric, who you’ve not even put into the  _ recovery position. _ Remind me to teach you idiots some basic-”

Four heads snapped around at the sound of someone clearing their throat. The culprit, one of the two Elves who Ruby had managed to completely forget about, freezing in place under their combined glare. He held his hands up in a placating gesture.

“Um… I’m terribly sorry for interrupting but…Thank you! Thank you so much! You saved our lives! And we feel  _ awful _ that some of you were hurt in doing so! Is there anything we can do to help you?”

Ruby and Tim shared a glance. She sighed inwardly as he grinned his mischievous grin, back to his usual self now that he knew everyone was alive, and replied to the Elf.

“Are you familiar with taxis?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read the tags, it says angst, you were warned.
> 
> As usual, if you're reading this, thank you for reading my story. I hope you are enjoying it.


	5. Ironcrest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the party make their way to their first real town in Ironcrest and where Tim begins to have some doubts.

The Elves, it turned out, had not in fact heard of taxis before. However, the concept had been one that Tim had not had any trouble explaining to the pair, and he was currently sitting in between them both at the front of the cart as it trundled its way along the road, while also gnawing on a strip of dried meat that they had been kind enough to share with him. He looked back over his shoulder, head only just high enough to peer over the structure of the cart into the storage behind, in order to check on the others. Eric and Jonny had been carried onto the cart with the help of the Elves and lain down on the wheat where there was just enough space for them to rest, and Anna, Katie and Ruby had insisted on riding in the back with them both, the trio sitting together and only just having enough room to be comfortable. Tim idly wondered if maybe having five dirty, sweating and bloodied people piled in among potential foodstuffs was some kind of health and safety violation but at the same time, he couldn’t give two shits. Besides, the owners of the cart didn’t seem to mind.

The pair had introduced themselves to Tim as the Galakiir Brothers, identical twins in fact, who were named Vesryn and Mirthal. Both of them had porcelain white skin and silver hair, almost albino in appearance to Tim with the exception of their dark blue eyes. As it turned out, they were actually Half Elves and not full-blooded High Elves as he had first assumed. Mirthal had waved off Tim’s half-hearted attempt at an apology with the assurance that it was a common misconception among anyone who wasn’t an Elf themselves. Of the pair, he was easily the most talkative, with Vesryn having not spoken a word since thanking the group for saving his life. Once the other members of the party had taken their place in the storage space of the cart, he had been the one to offer Tim a seat at the front of the cart, as well as the food he had now just finished devouring. The Gnome made a mental note to try and find somewhere to get the others fed too. It had occurred to him that if he was hungry then the others, most of them twice his size thanks to his current Gnomish height deficiency, must be absolutely ravenous. Mirthal was still chattering away beside him, but the words were going in one ear and right out the other as Tim considered their situation.   
  
They had gotten lucky. Very lucky. Disregarding for a moment the fact that all of them were now  _ somehow _ able to utilise the skills which they had chosen when designing their characters for the game, if none of them had decided on a class with healing abilities then Jonny would probably be lying dead in the back of the cart right now instead of being merely unconscious. If any of them had been tempted to treat the situation as a game till now, he had no doubt that the notion had been dashed from their minds at the moment they had watched a blade being plunged into their friend.

He gave an involuntary shiver as the memory replayed itself in his mind. He himself had been guilty of treating this place with less seriousness than it demanded but he hadn’t known any better. Whilst the reality of the situation had slowly started to sink in when he had woken up that morning in Bluethatch and realised he hadn’t been having a particularly vivid dream, it had been a very gradual thing, something which he pushed to the back of his mind and didn’t consider while instead focusing on the potential for fun.

The speed at which reality had struck him when he saw that knife come down had given him goddamn whiplash.

And what had he been doing whilst Eric, Anna and Jonny had sprung into action when their lives had been in danger? He had frozen, rooted to the spot in fear when the big Orc had made its presence known during the initial charge toward the party. Here he was, a Wizard with the potential to command the elements themselves and bend reality to his will and the second the opportunity had arisen for him to make himself useful he had done nothing. He could understand Katie and Ruby’s hesitation, one was a Cleric who probably wouldn’t do well in a melee and the other was brand new and probably had no idea what in the fuck had been going on before it was over. And even then, she had still managed to instinctively defend herself when she had ended up nose to nose with an Orc.

He glanced back at the girl as she crossed his mind, taking a moment to check on her. Anna and Katie were quietly discussing something he didn’t have the heart to try and eavesdrop on at the moment but Ruby was abnormally quiet, even for Ruby. Since sitting down in the back of the cart she had barely moved, lower lip quivering and eyes wet as she stared at her hands. Tim turned away and sighed, adding checking on how she was to the ever growing mental list of tasks which he would need to see to. Mirthal’s constant one sided conversation continued to wash over him, something which he decided he should probably start paying attention to.

“-ourse that was an  _ awful _ idea at the time but I guess we know better now!” Oh good, Mirthal had left a gap in the conversation for Tim to interrupt.

“So what kind of wizards are you?” Tim asked innocently.

Mirthal, who was sitting on Tim’s right, froze and fell silent, looking at Tim with wide eyes. On his left, Vesryn turned his head and raised a single eyebrow at the sudden question. Tim waited while Mirthal coughed and began to speak again.

“I uh, I assure you, Tim was it? Yes, I assure you that we are absolutely  _ not _ Wizards, no sir! We are merely simple farmers! That is why we have all this wheat! Why, we don’t even dress like wizards, unlike yourself!” He grinned at Tim as if this explained everything perfectly.

“Your cart has no horses.” Tim stated matter-of-factly.

It was true. For the past however many miles the cart had been rolling along the road with no visible means of propulsion, something which Tim had only vaguely been aware of for the journey but which only now clicked as wrong as he pulled himself free of the churning of his inner thoughts. He was so used to cars back home that the lack of a horse pulling the cart hadn’t rang any bells until he had mentally resurfaced. He considered the twins themselves as Mirthal spluttered and flapped his mouth as he tried and failed to come up with an excuse for how the cart was moving by itself. Tim pointed at Vesryn.

“The reason he’s been so quiet so far is that he’s focusing on moving the bloody thing. You’ve got some big, thick cloaks on there to keep the cold off but look.” Tim indicated a rectangular section of the cloak on Mirthal’s torso which bulged outward. “Spellbook, right?”

There was silence from the pair, normal for Vesryn so far but a first for Mirthal, and they looked at each other over the top of Tim’s head. The Gnome waited patiently for a response and was soon rewarded.

“Please don’t tell anyone,” whispered Mirthal.

Tim shrugged, noting the hint of terror that had crept its way into Mirthal’s tone and the way the cart slowed slightly as Vesryn’s attention was diverted away from his control over it, instead looking at him. Tim spoke up again.

“I won’t have to tell anyone. When they see a cart roll into town by itself with no horses pulling it they’re going to immediately say to themselves ‘Ah yes, must be wizards’ or something along those lines. Unless wooden carts come with some kind of propulsion system in this Kingdom and no one mentioned it.”

In truth, Tim didn’t much care why the pair were trying to keep their true identities under wraps. Right now his focus was on getting everyone somewhere relatively safe and trying to figure out a way home as soon as they possibly could. But when they arrived wherever it was they were heading, he didn’t want to draw any more attention to himself or the others than they were already sure to get. Tim had no idea where they were, or even where this road lead to. The last thing he needed was for the group to arrive at their destination alongside two very suspicious Half Elves who were currently doing an awful job of hiding their identities as wizards. He let out a long, slow exhale while he collected his thoughts and then spoke.   
  
“Look. I’m grateful for the lift, even though it’s just payback for my friends saving you from a band of roving Orcs. But to put things into perspective for you, we are lost as  _ fuck _ , hungry as dogs and now we’re apparently about to get mixed up in whatever business it is  _ you _ two have. It’s not on, alright? I couldn’t give less of a shit about why you’re hiding your identities or any of that nonsense. All I want to know is where we are, where you’re  _ going _ and if there’s a stop along the way for us to part ways as soon as possible because I refuse to get dragged into some cloak and dagger  _ bullshit _ today.”   
  
Tim breathes heavily for a moment before realising that the cart has come to a stop as the two wizards stared at him with jaws hanging agape. It occurred to him that his voice had steadily risen in volume whilst he was talking to the point that he had been yelling in a vitriolic fury by the time he had gotten to the last sentence. He glances over his shoulder and notes the shocked expressions of his companions too, before clearing his throat and shrugging his shoulders. He mumbles a question.   
  
“Uhh, so yeah, anyway. Where are we?”

The twins share a look, Vesryn’s eyebrow quirking slightly and Mirthal giving a confused shrug before the pair turn their attention back to Tim and Vesryn responds.   
  
“This is Vecchia, the North of Vecchia. We’re on our way to Vjarheim just beyond Ironcrest and Magnar’s Gate. If you’d like, we can part ways at Ironcrest.”   
  
Tim sighs and waves a hand. He really wishes he had bothered to pay attention to Mike’s lore now and Jonny is in no condition to ask if he remembers if any of those words are important ones.    
  
“Sure. Sure, Ironcrest, whatever. Let’s go.”   
  
Vesryn and Mirthal share another knowing look before Mirthal speaks to Tim instead.   
  
“You seem rather… unsure of the geography of the area. I take it you are not an Assembly trained wizard?”   
  
Tim groans and puts his face in his hands.    
  
“No, I am not. What even is- look, go. Just go. Drop us off at this Ironcrest place and then head on to Vurblhim or whatever it was called.”

The Gnome sighs inwardly as the cart begins to slowly move again and the twins do their best not to look at him. He knows he should feel bad about giving them a hard time, they  _ are _ giving them a lift after all, but he can’t even muster the energy to do so right now. The memory of Jonny’s screaming as the knife fell keeps rearing its head over and over and he can temper starting to fray. A moment later, he felt someone tap his shoulder.   
  
“You didn’t have to be so short with them y’know,” says the voice of Anna.   
  
Tim bristles at the word ‘short’ and looks back at her over his shoulder, arms folded and features drawn into an annoyed frown.   
  
“Was that a bloody pun?” he demands.   
  
Anna rolls her eyes and shakes her head at him.   
  
“No it wasn’t, you really need to get over this height thing by the way, I was just saying that maybe you should try and avoid making enemies of everyone we cross paths with. The group isn’t exactly in the best state right now in case you forgot.”   
  
Tim glares at Anna for a moment, before turning his attention away from her and facing back out to observe the road ahead. With his back still turned to her, he responds.   
  
“Make sure Ruby’s all right, we can argue later.”

  
Anna’s only response is a noise of irritation and Tim hears her movements as she climbs back over to the others. He glares at the road and shivers in the cold, narrowing his eyes at the sky as a light snow begins to fall.   
  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The snow falls heavier and heavier. As the carriage rumbles down the road the sound of wooden wheel on cobbled stone becomes more and more muffled by a thick blanket of snow which grows between the two materials. Somehow, it has already become dark and as the layer of snow grows ever thicker, all sound seems to fade away to nothingness. Tim is confused, he can’t recall the journey up to this point and even though the snow is falling thick and fast, it shouldn’t be accompanied by such a loud howling of wind. It occurs to him, that he is sitting alone at the head of the cart now and that somehow it is still moving. Fear fills his gut as something tells him to ignore the overwhelming urge to look over his shoulder at his companions. He licks his lips as he slowly turns his head, the voice in his head screaming at him not to do so, but his curiosity getting the better of him.   
  
The cart is full of corpses and blood, all of them in different stages of decay and with various wounds inflicted upon them. Laid on top of those are five other bodies. Those of his friends, all of them staring upward with lifeless eyes and bloodstained clothing.    
  
He feels himself begin to panic, his breath constricting in his throat but his body is no longer his to control. He can feel his mind thrashing and screaming against the inside of his skull but his limbs fail to respond. It feels like everything is suddenly moving in slow motion and as the wind howls louder, he realises that the howls are cries for help.    
  
Suddenly, he feels a presence. Powerful and overwhelming, one which suffocates him with its weight. Slowly, agonisingly, he looks up to the sky.   
  
A blackened sky which looks back down at him and bellows in sickening laughter.   
  


\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tim lets out a scream as he is jostled awake by Mirthal, causing him and Vesryn to almost leap out of their skins and earning a loud “FUCK” from Anna in the back of the cart. The Gnome immediately looks into the back of the cart, ignoring the complaints about his sudden outburst, and lets out a relieved sigh when he realises that no one has been murdered behind his back. He slumps into his seat as his heart rate begins to slowly return to normal and he rubs a palm across his forehead to wipe some of the cold sweat which has formed there. He catches Mirthal’s eye and shrugs.   
  
“Sorry. Bad dream, didn’t mean to scare you.”

Mirthal leans slightly away from Tim as he nods slowly, his face a picture of confused worry as he gestures to what lies ahead on their route.   
  
“Just wanted to wake you up. We’re here.”   
  
Tim blinks as he notes their surroundings. Ironcrest looms in the distance, standing atop the snow coated slope that they are currently making their way up. Tim dimly realises that the cart is now being pulled by a horse. On closer inspection, he becomes aware that he can see through it as it moves and he realises that it must be some kind of poorly constructed illusion.   
  
He shrugs. At least they tried. He turns his attention back to the town.   
  
Ironcrest’s walls are built of dull, grey stone and stand strong and tall. The town itself is hidden by them, with the only visible entrance being a large, stone gatehouse which is itself flanked by what seem to be guard towers. He notices the signs of life that the town gives off. Guards moving around on the battlements, a steady trickle of carts and people on foot moving through the gatehouse and thin wisps of smoke which rise steadily into the air from what must be the chimneys of buildings hidden somewhere behind the stone walls. Just beyond the outer gatehouse, he sees what looks to be stables and some farmland set aside for livestock. It would need to be, the chill in the air makes it obvious that this land is not best suited for crops, at least not at this time of the year. He notices the way that the town rests at the foot of a mountain, one in a long chain of snow-covered peaks which march along parallel to the positioning of the town and which dominate the view behind, dwarfing the town. Where this road eventually splits off to wind its way to the city’s gatehouse, he notices the fork continues onwards past the walls and towards the mountains. If he squinted, he would just about make out the small amount of traffic made up of wooden carts and horses which make their way towards a gap in the mountains. 

  
He glances back over his shoulder at the other conscious members of the party, all of whom are looking at the slowly approaching town with expressions of quiet concern. Katie speaks up first.   
  
“I really hope we’re not heading into more trouble.”   
  
Before Tim can respond, his attention is immediately grabbed by someone stirring.   
  
Eric moves, letting out a groan and pressing his palm against his head, oblivious to the incredulous stares which he has earned for the moment. He blinks and then looks around, confused, before noting his four companions all staring at him.   
  
“...what?”   
  
The cart judders slightly and the horse illusion flickers intermittently as both Mirthal and Vesryn’s concentrations are interrupted by the uproar of four people yelling out in relief and annoyance at once. They all drown out each other’s words as they simultaneously begin to voice their joy that Eric is awake and their concern that Jonny has yet to do so. Eric winces and blinks, squinting up at them from where he lies on the wheat, not yet having bothered to pull himself into a different position.   
  
“HOLY SHIT YOU’RE OK-”   
  
“HOW DID YOU  _ DO  _ THAT BACK THERE-”   
  
“JONNY’S ALIVE MAN! JON-”   
  
“OH THANK GOD, I WAS SO WORR-”   
  
The hubbub dies down as Eric lets out a loud groan and presses his finger to his lips, shushing them all as loudly as he can. He covers his face with both hands before he responds.   
  
“I feel awful. We won, right? Is Jonny OK?”   
  
The others share a look and Tim is the first of them to answer.   
  
“He’s still alive but he’s not woken up since Katie healed him. Honestly it’s… kinda worrying. We’re gonna get him checked when we get to Ironcrest.”   
  
Eric mumbles a response and rests his forearm across his eyes, exhaling loudly and grunting as he repositions himself on the bed of wheat which he is resting upon. He nods before answering.   
  
“At least he’s alive. What’s an Ironcrest?”   
  
Anna grins down at him and points out of the cart at the town which looms in the distance. Eric finally forces himself into a sitting position with a groan and a frown, turning his head to look back at it. After a second, he allows himself to fall back into lying down on the wheat.   
  
“OK cool. Someone nudge me when we get closer.”   
  
Eric receives no such favour. The remainder of the journey there is filled with Anna and Tim retelling the story of Eric fighting the Uruk and Eric reminding them that he is aware of the events in question, due to the fact that he was the one who did them. An occasional glance is spared to Jonny and they all fall silent everytime they do, each of them clearly visualising the same terrible memory. Tim realises that the Twins have been left out of this discussion and are mostly forgotten by his companions. He doesn’t care, Eric’s sudden awakening has lifted the group’s spirits just enough to push him into optimism and the Gnome ignored the pair until the cart finally comes to a stop at the fork in the road, a few hundred metres shy of Ironcrest’s gatehouse. As he hops down onto the snowy road, Tim takes a moment to look back up at the two wizards as the others climb out of the back of the cart, Eric being helped down onto shaky legs and Jonny being lifted by Katie’s broad, Dwarven shoulders in a fireman’s carry.    
  
“Thank you. Good luck with… whatever it is you’re both up to.”   
  
The twins share a final look and Mirthal smiles down, nodding to Tim.   
  
“And the same to you, friend. May our paths cross again someday.”   
  
Tim watches as the cart takes off again, the horse illusion at the front seeming rapidly more solid and realistic the further away the cart trundles along the road. He looks back up at the imposing stonework of Ironcrest’s outer walls and takes a moment to observe his companions. Eric is being helped to stay on his feet by Anna and Ruby stands quietly beside Katie, who shows no sign of being encumbered by the unconscious form of Jonny. Tim notes the way that Ruby stares at her feet and plays with her own hands and approaches, ignoring the discussion between Eric and Anna which he overhears in which they debate who killed the most Orcs in the earlier fight.   
  
Ruby starts slightly when Tim tugs at her skirt to get her attention and she looks scared when he meets her gaze. He frowns slightly and sighs.   
  
“Come on Ruby. We’ve gotta get Jonny to somewhere safe. Can’t do it without you, now can we?”   
  
The girl’s expression morphs into one of slight shock and then determination as she nods her head, tears forming at the corners of her eyes but not falling. She still seems fragile but she nods again, with more gusto this time.   
  
“Yeah. Yeah, let’s go.”   
  
Tim leads the way up the slight incline which will take them to Ironcrest’s gatehouse. His companions follow behind him, Eric and Anna, followed by Katie carrying Jonny and finally Ruby, bringing up the rear. The group draws the occasional glance as they get closer to the gates, wandering past the stables which are situated just outside of the town. Travellers on horseback pass by them to and from the city and some of them also spare the Party a brief glance. Tim pays them no heed, focused as he is on the gatehouse itself. The stone archway is much larger when observed this close and he notes that the iron portcullis which it contains is currently raised to allow free access to and from the city.    
  
At the same time however, a pair of guards in simple padded leather and each wearing a light blue tabard with a simple symbol of two crossed longswords over the top stand on either side of the gatehouse. Both of them wear conical helmets with nose guards and are armed with halberds. They are middle aged men by the look of them and their eyes track up and down every person who makes their way through the gate, as if searching for something. As Tim and his friends approach, one of the guards blocks his passage with his halberd. Tim feels his adrenaline surge as he stops and looks up at the guard, who tilts his head in the direction of Katie and her unconcious cargo.   
  
“Wha’s goin’ on ‘ere then? A Dwarf carryin’ a fuckin’ Drow around? And with a Tieflin’ an all? Suspect, if ye ask me.”   
  
Tim licks his now dry lips as the wheels of his mind spin rapidly in an attempt to figure out what to say to this man to avoid getting them into trouble. He thinks back to his games at home, when he would just roll for charisma and not worry too much about the outcome. It was just a game after all.   
  
This certainly didn’t feel like much of a game anymore.   
  
As Tim inhales to begin talking, Eric suddenly speaks out from behind him.   
  
“Please friend, they are with me. I am a Paladin of Helm and we’re just passing through. All we seek is shelter for the night at an inn and my friend was hurt on our way here. Would you truly be so cruel as to turn us away?”   
  
For a moment, Tim is ready to roll his eyes, but is then shocked when the guard lifts the halberd out of the way, sharing what looks like a fearful glance with the second guard who remains tight lipped and averts his gaze from Eric. The first guard speaks.   
  
“M’pologies sir, didn’ realise you was a Paladin sir…”   
  
The guard waves them along and Tim doesn’t hesitate to press on through before they change their mind. As they make their way into the town proper, the streets dirty with the slushy mixture of half melted snow and muck and the sound of townspeople going about their business reaching his ears, Tim looks back at Eric and the others, all of whom seem unphased by the reaction to the word Paladin.   
  
As they gather around on the other side of the gatehouse and begin to discuss where to find an inn, or more appropriately how they’re going to pay for it, Tim thinks back to his nightmare on the cart and the look on the guard’s face when he realised what Eric was.   
  
He didn’t voice his newfound concerns to the others in the group as they began to wander around in search of somewhere that looked like an inn, with Eric occasionally stopping to ask for directions from locals. However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something wrong.   
  
Maybe they were about to find more trouble in Ironcrest after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy, been a while eh?
> 
> This chapter was written in a haze between the sugar fuelled madness which was studying for some exams but that's no excuse for how long it took me to finally get it finished. This is posted without being beta read because I am absolutely chomping at the bit to add more to the story and also because of the length of time that it took between chapters. Edits may be made where required where I forgot how to speak English.
> 
> As per usual, if you are reading this then thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope you are enjoying it.


	6. Quiet as a Mouse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party find themselves with more problems than they first thought. But help is offered from a surprising source.

It soon became apparent to all within the party that whilst they may be a diverse, well equipped and apparently downright unique sight in this town, if the numerous quick glances and muttered comments were anything to go by, their current objective of finding somewhere to rest up and tend to Jonny had already hit a particularly difficult snag. It had nothing to do with extracting directions from the locals, most of them seemed willing to talk to Eric at least, or with finding somewhere that would not turn their strange group away at the door. In fact, from what they had gathered thus far, almost every inn which graced Ironcrest would rent out a room and feed almost anyone who had the coin to pay for it.   
  
It was a shame then, that they were flat broke.

Ruby shivered and attempted to rub some heat into her arms as they walked back out into the cold streets following Eric’s fourth failed attempt to convince an innkeeper that they could trust in his Oath as a Paladin that the group would repay them in some way at a later date. The Tiefling was just glad that this particular interaction had been mostly civil, she was quite sure that they were barred from The Ox Horn now after Anna slammed the owner’s head into his own bar for spitting at Ruby’s feet and calling her a demon when the party had first walked in. 

That had been over half an hour ago, and it still stung just as much to think about as when it had actually happened. Ruby was starting to regret her choices when it came to how she had designed her character, which unfortunately was apparently her new life for the foreseeable future. She had found it easier to ignore when she had first arrived, and had in fact preferred to do just that. She had been dimly aware of the looks from the farmer and the people in Bluethatch, the distrust that had been in the air even when their group had been welcomed with open arms by Kayla, but it had been subdued and easy not to dwell on. Here in Ironcrest, it was more obvious how the atmosphere changed when she walked into anywhere with a gathering of people, the expressions of disgust and hatred which she caught glimpses of when people looked at her. 

It wasn’t just humans either. Ironcrest was apparently home to a number of Dwarves too, the first she had seen apart from Katie. When the group had first crossed paths with a small group of the short and bearded folk, less than five minutes after passing through the main gate in fact, her faint hope that they would look at her differently than the humans had quickly been dashed as they had observed the party, spotted her, and huddled closer together whilst keeping their distance and shooting her suspicious and fearful glances.

But that innkeeper had been the first to display such open hostility, and she knew that he would not be the last.

She sniffled and pressed her palms against her eyes quickly to wipe away the hot tears which had come unbidden as her emotions churned at the memory. A part of her felt that maybe they were right to be afraid. Her thoughts drifted back to the power she had felt in her veins when she had killed the person who had attacked her during the fight on the road. It had been the only time she had manifested any sort of ability since their arrival here and it terrified her what might happen if she was backed into a corner like that again. She didn’t want to cause any harm, but a little voice in her head which sounded like Tim told her that very few would likely give her the chance to prove that.   
  
Most of Vecchia, people who had never met her, would already have formed an opinion on her based on nothing more than her appearance.

Ruby forced herself to focus her thoughts elsewhere and she turned her attention back to the group instead. Eric was bickering with Tim as per usual, but his heart didn’t seem to be in it. He was putting on a brave face, but it was obvious to the others that Eric still wasn’t quite recovered from his fight with the Uruk, his eyes appearing heavy lidded and his movements slow and seemingly painful when he walked unaided by Anna. Speaking of which, Anna herself was rather quiet, her face twisted in an expression that radiated annoyance since she had lost her temper with the Innkeeper. She seemed to be stewing in her thoughts at the moment and Ruby could tell that it was best not to speak to her right now. The Elf was also throwing the occasional glance towards Jonny, who was still unconscious and draped over the broad shoulders of Katie, the Dwarf yet to show any outward signs of fatigue or discomfort from carrying him around for so long. Last and not least, was Tim. He had surprised Ruby earlier when he had approached her outside of the gate and offered some words of support out of the blue but she was thankful all the same. His goodwill hadn’t lasted too long however, and now he had returned to his normal argumentative self, his mood having soured since realising that they had no money to secure themselves somewhere out of the cold for the evening.    
  
His mood had only gotten worse as the sun had begun to dip low behind the walls of the town, with the temperature starting to drop along with it. The streets had slowly started to clear of people whilst they had been making their way through what Ruby assumed to be some kind of market district in their fruitless search for lodgings. She shivered again as a cold wind found its way down the street they were currently trudging their way through, the overall mood one of defeat and worry. Ruby tuned her attention back into what Tim was saying for the moment.   
  
“-ever been this bloody cold in my life! We don’t even have any cloaks or furs or any of that sort of thing! Where are we going to sleep? What are we going to eat? Just swallow your pride and ask for some money, or sell your sword or something!”   
  
“We both know I’m not selling my sword, Tim,” came Eric’s exhausted reply.   
  
“You can buy it back later once we have some silver and aren’t frozen corpses in a gutter somewhere! Or you could buy a cheaper sword! I bet it’s just as sharp and stabby as that one and it will come with the added bonus of somewhere warm to sleep, cause we’ll have money. See what I’m getting at here?”   
  
“Sell your staff then.”   
  
“No, fuck you!”   
  
Ruby sighed as she zoned back out and let herself return to the thoughts swirling around in her head. Tim didn’t sound like he planned on letting up anytime soon and both Anna and Katie hadn’t interjected in almost ten minutes. Whilst her skin was seemingly not affected by the cold nearly as much as the others, she could understand his point of view. When darkness fell, it was only going to get colder and she didn’t know if there was a point at which the chill would be enough to overcome even her strange new physiology. Worse still, even if she did survive a night in the freezing cold, the others might not.

Before she could react to that particular intrusive thought however, she was interrupted by something tugging at the hem of her dress. She turned her attention to the source and found herself looking down at a girl who appeared no more than 11 or 12 years of age, with long and messy straw blonde hair, a dusting of freckles on her nose and dressed in what appeared to be barely a step above rags.   
  
“Hi. Is it true the stuff wha’ folk say ‘bout you Teeflins?”

Ruby stared at the girl in silence for several seconds. She hadn’t even heard the girl approach or noticed her until she had made herself known. But more importantly, this girl wasn’t cowering behind her mother at the sight of her and instead seemed to be looking at her with nothing more than wide eyed curiosity. The Tiefling’s companions had stopped a short distance away and fallen silent themselves, Anna having noticed that she had suddenly fallen behind. Ruby licked her dry lips and answered quietly, worried about scaring the young girl.

“Um… what stuff do they say about Tieflings?”   
  
The girl tilted her head quizzically and shrugged. It was the kind of shrug that utilises the entire upper body, her shoulders rising up to the level of her ears, her palms pointing at the sky and her lower lip jutting out.

“Y’know. Stuff. Scary stories, like ‘ow you steal babes from cribs an’ make folk’s cows die and stuff. That you’s are super scary. Y’know, stuff.”   
  
Ruby bit her lower lip and frowned. She had known that Tieflings would come with some sort of stigma attached but she hadn’t actually looked too much into it when she had been gleefully preparing her character sheet during the week prior to attending the session.

“I wouldn’t know, honestly. I haven’t really, um, been a Tiefling for very long?”   
  
The young girl’s head tilted the opposite way at that and she frowned slightly, as if internally going over what Ruby had just said to her. Then, she nodded as realisation dawned on her face.   
  
“Oooooooh so some of ya ain’t born wif the horns and tail and that? Never knew that bit about yous. You ain’t seem all that scary ta’ me.”

Ruby felt the corners of her lips turn up slightly and paid no attention to the others, who were now hesitantly approaching the pair, with her attention instead fixed on the young girl. It was the first time she’d felt even semi normal since arriving in Vecchia and whilst she may still be subconsciously fretting about the high chance of negative encounters that she would no doubt be involved in later, right now she decided she would rather talk with the girl instead.   
  


“Thanks, I don’t want to be scary. What’s your name?”   
  
The urchin perked up at the question and grinned.   
  
“Me mates at the Guild call me Mouse! On account of me teeth, y’see.”   
  
Without further ado, the girl tucked her lower lip under the upper row of teeth to expose them to Ruby, proudly displaying a pair of buck teeth at the front and centre. She tapped them with a finger, slightly cross eyed as she attempted to look at them herself whilst showing the Tiefling, before letting her mouth settle back into a natural expression. She still seemed curious and finally turned her attention from Ruby to the now present party members.   
  


“Are you’s all ad-ven-choors then? Don’t you’s lot have money most of the time?”   
  
From beside Ruby, Anna snorted humourlessly at the question whilst Eric replied to the question, smiling at Mouse as he did so.

“It’s ‘Adventurers’, little girl. And how do you know we have no money? We could have lots of money.”   
  
Mouse pouted at being referred to as a little girl and folded her arms, annoyed.   
  
“Firsts off, I ain’t little. I’m already taller than Mutt  _ an’ _ Knuckle! An’ seconds of all none of yous have coin purses. I know, I checked.”

There was silence from the group. Tim raised an eyebrow whilst Eric shared a glance with Ruby, who felt her stomach drop slightly. Who were Mutt and Knuckle? And more importantly, why was she checking coin purses?   
  
It was Tim who broke the silence.   
  
“Hold the phone. Did you try and steal from us?”

At first, Mouse seems slightly confused by Tim and Ruby noted her mouthing the word ‘phone’ to herself with a puzzled expression. Then, the girl shrugged and grinned at the Gnome, nodding several times.   
  
“Yep! Tha’s ma job, cos I works for The Guild see. Like I says to ya.”

Ruby feels a creeping chill crawling its way up her spine when Mouse gleefully reveals exactly how they have come into contact. The woman nervously glances around the streets which suddenly seem much more cramped and dark than they had moments ago, her imagination populating the shadows with dagger wielding thugs lying in wait to ambush the group once they were distracted by this little girl. Fortunately, no such phantoms spring into being and emerge and she realises that Mouse is still speaking.   
  
“See I was gonna dip a few silvers from yous like what I usually does, not too much mind, I ain’t a thief, so’s I can keep paying me members-ship fee. I dunno why we need a member’s ship, the sea’s real far from here-”   
  
Tim interrupted the girl at this point, exasperation evident in his demeanour.

“But… but why!? Why tell us and not just move on?”

Mouse bit her lower lip and looked at the ground, playing with a strand of her hair with both hands in what seemed to be a nervous gesture. Then, she raised one hand and pointed at Ruby.

“She looked real sad. Made me feel sorry for yous.”

Ruby shrank into herself a little as four pairs of eyes settled on her for a moment before her companions turned their attention back to the urchin, or more accurately the cutpurse, as Anna finally broke her silence and snapped at the girl.

“Well how nice of you not to rob us when we have fuck all for you to take. Real upstanding of you, well done! Can we please go find somewhere where we can at least help Jonny? There must be a church or something, sanctuary or whatever the fuck they call it.”   
  
Mouse took a step back at Anna’s outburst with a look of fear, and Ruby felt both a surge of pity for Mouse and anger at Anna. Yes, the girl had been looking to dip a few coins from them but she recognised that look on Mouse’s face when the Ranger lost her temper and she couldn’t help but feel an ache in her chest from it. Suddenly, Katie spoke up, words sounding slightly strained as she shifted her footing to better carry Jonny.

“Alright Anna, calm down, she’s only young. Now, Mouse right? It was lovely to meet you, thank you for not robbing us and please find a less criminal job but we need to go now OK? We need to find somewhere where we can help my brother.”

As the group began to turn towards Katie with the intent to walk away, Mouse suddenly perked up again.

“Oh! I can help yous with that! I gots a place where I stays when I ain’t hanging out with The Guild! Come on, I’ll show yous!”   
  
Mouse waited for their response with shining eyes and a cheery grin on her slightly too small face. Ruby noted the way Anna stared with incredulity and the only sound other than the chill wind which had picked up again in the streets was that of Tim’s palm connecting with his forehead. Ruby and Eric shared a glance and he spoke up.

“Group huddle? Just a minute Mouse.”   
  
The urchin was left standing in slight befuddlement as the party formed a circle and began to murmur to each other.

“Well you heard her folks, thoughts?” Eric asked.

“Fuck no.”

“Noted. Any second opinions? I’ll be honest, I think she’s genuine.”

“Well I’m worried about Jonny, he’s still not woken up and we need to put him  _ somewhere. _ ”

“Yep, true, agree with you on that one but also pretty suspicious I’ll be honest, gonna lean towards no with She Hulk over here.”

“Fuck off, stumpy.”

“I cherish our friendship, Anna.”

“Alright so that’s two for and two against. Looks like you’re the tie breaker Ruby.”

Ruby looked at Eric as he placed the decision and seemed unaware of the fact he had rested the decision so casually on her shoulders. Her eyes darted between her four conscious companions before finally being drawn to and lingering for a moment upon Jonny. He hadn’t moved at all since he had been stabbed and even after Katie had healed him, the Drow still seemed like he wasn’t quite out of the woods yet. Even his breathing seemed a little too shallow at a glance. The Tiefling looked over her shoulder at the small figure of Mouse, who was rocking back and forth on her heels, before turning back to her companions. Ruby drew in some air through her teeth and nodded, grimacing slightly.

“She’s not malicious, I think. And we really, really need somewhere to rest safely.”

Anna groaned as Eric nodded his agreement and Katie smiled at Ruby’s decision, an expression which was hard to make out from amongst the Dwarf’s heavy beard and thick eyebrows. The Tiefling turned around and addressed Mouse as the group stood behind her.

“OK. We’ll come with you.”   
  
Mouse grinned and clapped her hands together.

“Well come on then! Le’s go!”    
  


\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun vanished behind the city walls whilst the group followed Mouse deeper into the streets of Ironcrest. Her footfalls were almost completely silent and the girl moved fast as she darted down the quiet side alleys and dark paths in what seemed to be a rougher looking part of town. Too fast in fact, as she had to stop several times in order for Eric to catch up, the Paladin having resorted to leaning against Anna for support in order to maintain a reasonable pace with the others. She didn’t mind, the Half Elf’s body was tougher than it looked, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that they were willful prey following bait into the jaws of a trap. More than once she had lost sight of the girl for a few seconds after Mouse had darted between the rotten timbers of a decrepit home or suddenly disappeared down a side street cloaked in shadow and Anna had been sure they were about to be ambushed by whoever must be lurking just out of sight each time it happened, until their young guide had suddenly reappeared whilst waiting for them to catch her up. 

Still, even though her suspicions had been proven wrong every time thus far, Anna still refused to relax. Elven senses are far more keen than those of a human and all of Anna’s were being strained as her instincts surged to the forefront of her mind. Her head was cocked slightly to the side as her ears strained to catch anything that sounded out of place, her eyes darted between every misshapen shadow and movement and her nostrils flared as the different scents of the city were stirred up by their passing. It didn’t help that she still wasn’t used to the new perceptions that came with her Half Elf form and the fact she even  _ could _ see this well in the dark didn’t help much when the little brat insisted on vanishing around corners suddenly. On top of that, she had been finding it hard not to jump at every new smell and sound ever since she had set foot in this fucking town. Anna’s temper had always been rather on the short side and even though back home she had never had a problem with big cities, now she felt enclosed, claustrophobic even, and while darkness had begun to fall and the town had begun to slumber its atmosphere still left her shaken. 

She didn’t like it, it was confusing, which was annoying, which made her angry. Very angry.

To make matters worse, she had been nursing a smouldering fury in her chest since she had watched a monster plunge Jonny’s own knife into his gut with no sign of remorse and she make up her mind who it was she was most angry with. The Uruk for hurting her friend? Jonny for charging in recklessly, blocking her shot and almost getting himself killed? Or herself, for being too slow to bring it down before it could bring any harm?

Anna snarled and pushed through, burying those particular thoughts for later. Right now she needed to do two things and only two things. Be ready to make a run for it when Mouse no doubt lead them into a gang of armed robbers and, in the highly unlikely event that didn’t happen, helping Eric not to fall flat on his face due to his current exhausted state. Mouse clearly had a destination in mind and the group couldn’t have been moving for longer than a few minutes but to Anna it felt much longer, attention focused on taking in as much as possible during every second that passed.

And suddenly, Mouse stops beside the dilapidated structure of another building which seemed as hollow and dirty as those they had passed by through the most recent couple of streets. Anna hadn’t quite noticed when they had passed the threshold between “rough part of town” and “slum” but when she spent a moment taking in the detail of the building the girl was standing in front of, slum was the only word which fit. The walls were filthy, the wooden shutters were hanging off the windows and half the roof appeared to have caved in. Not to mention, it looked like the building was actually tilting ever so slightly, as if just waiting for a reason to collapse.

And Mouse’s voice was filled with pride for this monstrosity when she spoke up.

“We’re ere’ erry’body! May I present ta yous, my very own ‘ouse. No one else my age ‘as one this big! ‘Ad to chase off a lotta rats for this one, plus some o’ them gits from The Picks but they knows better than to mess wiff The Guild.”

The only response was the sound of the wind whistling through the streets as the party stared at what most of them would most probably assume was a condemned structure. They exchange glances before gingerly making their way toward the entrance, the chill in the wind reminding them all exactly why they even considered accompanying Mouse here.

Of course Ruby was the first to follow Mouse into the creaking, wooden deathtrap and Anna felt her eye twitch slightly when she thought back to how easily her companion had decided to trust a stranger, even if said stranger was a seemingly harmless street urchin. If they were going to sleep in some random wreck of a building anyway, she would have much preferred that it be somewhere they had found themselves.

Still, as both Tim and the Jonny-laden Katie started to make their own way into the building behind Ruby, Anna resigned herself to the fact that she would need to follow them. Eric had been quiet, mainly breathing heavily from the exertion of remaining upright even whilst using her as a crutch, but she knew he wouldn’t remain that way for long if she lingered outside in the cold. She grudgingly passed through the decaying wooden door frame on the heels of her Dwarven companion. 

The interior of the house was just as bad as the exterior and Anna wrinkled her nose slightly at the smell of damp. The majority of the wooden framework was rotten and the only light source was a flickering glow from the next room, the only other room that was accessible from the floor she was on. There was a second floor with a balcony above them but she didn’t feel the urge to try and investigate it any further, especially considering the fact that the staircase leading up to it had completely collapsed at some point in the past. Still, at least the edge had been taken off of the cold now that they were inside and somewhat protected from the wind.

She glanced at the doorway which lead to the next room just in time for Mouse to stick her face around the corner and beckon toward it, the rest of the party having already made their way in.   
  
“C’mon then, whatcha waitin’ for?”

Anna huffed loudly and felt a flash of anger when Eric chuckled at her blatant show of annoyance. He grunted in pain a moment later when she sharply jabbed her elbow into his side but he didn’t complain, she was still keeping him on his feet after all. The Half Elf helped to guide him into the other room, where their other companions were waiting for them and murmuring to each other.

It was slightly cramped due to the presence of all seven of them, but the sight of the room surprised Anna.

The wooden walls and ceiling were still coated in grime, and in serious need of replacement, but they were slightly obscured behind large sheets of what must have once been white cloth which had been nailed into them about halfway up, probably as high as Mouse had been able to reach when she had first put them there. There was a small bowl of glass suspended from the ceiling with a pair of strings which hung down as low as Anna’s chest and the flickering light of the room was emanating from the small candle which had been lit within.

“That can’t be safe”, mumbled Tim.

Anna ignored him and turned her attention to the floor, which she couldn’t see. It was hidden, completely obscured beneath piles of hay, cloth sheets, assorted clothing and even the occasional pillow. The word which sprung to mind when Anna beheld the room was nest.

Mouse had a nest.

Anna had to bite her lip, determined not to giggle and instead stay angry. However, as she watched the girl scamper deeper into the pile and then gleefully throw a pillow at Tim she couldn’t help but feel it drain away to be replaced with exhaustion instead. The girl might be a self confessed criminal but it seemed she wasn’t malicious after all. Mouse chose that moment to speak up.

“Righ’ then, get comfy n’ that. S’dark already an’ it’s always warmer when yous huddle together.”   
  
Anna felt a weight literally lift from her shoulders when Eric removed his arm from around her and dragged himself over to lie on the pile and placed his back against the wall, which creaked rather worryingly but still held. Katie finally placed Jonny gently down on his back and huddled beside him, eyes still filled with concern. As the others followed in silence, all of them clearly glad to finally be able to rest, Anna watches as Mouse makes a point of checking that everyone else is comfortable and giving one of the clearly very few pillows to Katie in order to let Jonny lie on his back with something to support his head. The only movement from the Drow, as before, is the gentle rise and fall of his chest.

Whilst she may be a street urchin, Mouse seemed like she had some ideas about how to treat guests.

Anna sighed as the girl fussed over the others and took a spot beside Katie, before pulling off her boots and setting aside the bow which had been hanging over her shoulder. Mouse’s eyes were drawn to it for a few moments whilst the Ranger handled the beautifully carved weapon, but she soon went back to making sure everyone was comfortable. Once they were all settled into what Anna could still only think of as a nest, Mouse curled up at the centre of them and yawned.   
  
“Righ’ then, peasant dream all of yous.”   
  
Tim mumbled out a reply but there was no emotion in the words. 

“It’s pleasant **,** buddy, not peasant.”

Mouse was silent for a moment before giving her own response. 

“Oh. Maybe s’cause yous ain’t peasants?”

Tim only grunted, too tired to bother with discussing it. Eric chuckled and spoke up, voice still sounding slightly strained.

“Considering we were too poor for you to rob, maybe we are peasants.”

Mouse hums, eyelids heavy and murmuring a reply before dozing off.

“Tha’s alrigh’. Guild can ‘elp yous wiff tha’ t’morrow. Lookin’ for the like of yous...”

There was silence for a long while after that, interrupted only by the gentle snoring of Mouse herself. Anna shared a glance with Tim, the rest of their companions having already fallen asleep and Anna herself only just hanging on to consciousness. Before letting herself doze off, she asked Tim an important question which didn’t receive a reply.

“Did we just get offered a job?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems like the party's luck might be taking a turn for the better for a change. I bet The Guild are really nice.
> 
> As always, if you're reading this, thank you for taking the time to look at my story. I hope you're enjoying it.


	7. A Favour for The Guild

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a dwarf has a dream and a half elf plays at being a mercenary.

Katie didn't realise she was dreaming at first. 

She was aware of herself standing in a flat, grassy field that seemed to stretch on forever, the sea of green punctuated with small spots of yellow by dandelions which appeared to be spread out around her in a spiralling, uniform pattern. The sky above was a bright, clear blue which lacked even the smallest of clouds and after taking a moment to glance upward, Katie became dimly aware that she didn't feel quite as short as she had lately.

She looked down and gasped, surprised to find that, for now, she was inhabiting her own body and not currently trapped in the squat, hairy dwarven one which she had been trying to grow used to recently. She turned both of her hands over to inspect her palms, now returned to their normal smooth and clear condition, and savoured the fact that they were no longer the rough, calloused shovels which she had been struggling to grow comfortable with.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sound so distant and quiet that it may well have been her imagination. At the very edge of her hearing, a whisper on the air which brought to mind the vague silhouette of someone she once knew caught her attention, and Katie turned toward what something in her subconscious told her must be the source of the sound. 

A tree now stood in the middle of the field where there had been nothing before. Old and gnarled with no more leaves to adorn its branches, with cracked and pitted bark which appeared dry as a bone, it seemed to call her forwards, beckoning her to approach its trunk and investigate further. Something about the tree seemed familiar to Katie but her thoughts were foggy and sluggish, her feet seeming to move by themselves as she was drawn in closer and closer.

The gap between Katie and the tree remained infuriatingly constant even as she felt everything else begin to rush by of its own accord. It wasn't really her that was moving, it was the world around her, passing by both her and the tree at a speed which she could never hope to have achieved on foot. And yet, the tree remained stubbornly consistent in how far it was from her position, before suddenly beginning to grow exponentially larger without warning.

The world began to fall away beneath Katie's feet as the ancient tree began to soar upwards into the heavens, increasing in size with every passing second. She could only look on in confusion and wonder as her entire field of view was filled by the great mass of the tree and it made perfect sense to her that as it grew ever upward, she rose into the sky along with it. The tree should have been far too tall for her to see in its entirety at this distance but somehow she was consciously aware of it growing beyond the confines of one world, the web of branches reaching out into infinity as if grasping towards something else beyond her senses.

And then, there was a crack of thunder, a flash of lightning and the tree which now cast the entire world below in shadow burst into flames.

In the same instant, Katie saw flashes of things that didn't quite make sense to her dreaming mind. The images were blurry and passed by rapidly, but she was able to catch a glimpse of her friends from within the sudden maelstrom of fire and smoke before she found herself focusing on them above all else.

There were Ruby and Eric, but they stood opposed to one another with expressions of grim acceptance on their faces, the Paladin with his sword drawn and raised opposite the Tiefling, who was channeling some kind of power in preparation to attack.

Then she saw a huge board, one which seemed like a cross between a chess board and a game map, with pieces that she seemed to instinctively know each represented one of her companions. They were scattered across the board, most of the pieces set far apart from each other and all five of them appearing to be damaged in some way. Why were there only five?

Then the image changed again, one of herself in a blind rage, clashing with unthinkable odds over something which her mind refused to process but made her stomach twist into knots and her heart stop beating, an image she decided she wasn't willing to dwell on.

And then came the clearest picture. Some kind of dark room, with Jonny caught exactly halfway between the group at one end and a shadow at the other, his gaze snapping back and forth between them and indecision written into his every movement.

That image seemed to linger for a few seconds longer than the others, before becoming suddenly clearer as the shadow within somehow turned its attention to her, here, beside the tree. She felt her blood turn to ice in her veins and her breath catch in her throat as the malformed figure grinned at her, and she quickly tore her gaze away in an effort to cast it from her mind even as the light of the burning tree began to dim and darkness crept its way into her vision.

She heard the shadow laugh its amusement.

And she heard Mike, calling out to be saved.

\---

The strangled yelp which escaped Katie's throat as she jerked awake was less than dignified, and she blinked blearily in the darkness as her head cleared and awareness returned. She was still in the almost comfortable room in Mouse's home, and the girl in question was curled up in the middle of them all whilst twitching in her sleep, seeming to show no signs that her rest was in the slightest bit impacted by the inclusion of six guests. Katie rubbed at her eyes with the heels of her palms, keenly aware of how rough they felt against her skin, and scratched at her oversized beard whilst her vision cleared.

The candle suspended in its glass bowl had snuffed itself out at some point while they were asleep and it was still either very late in the night, or extremely early in the morning. She knew the distinction didn't really matter and even if her Dwarven senses allowed her to see quite clearly in the dark, even if lacking colour, she knew that it was still far too early to be awake and grumbled to herself as she leaned back into as comfortable a position as she could given the circumstances.

In the quiet of the small hours, with the only sounds being the occasional rustle of cloth from her sleeping friends repositioning themselves slightly and Tim's ever constant snoring, Katie reflected on their current situation and the dream which had forced her awake, the details of which had already begun to fade away from her memory. 

She normally tried to maintain a cheery disposition and an optimistic outlook on life. Even with the events of the previous two days she had done her very best to maintain that frame of mind and put on a brave face for the benefit of everyone else, especially her younger brother, but she could feel the strain of doing so beginning to stretch her patience. The dream had shaken her enough to cause a brief panic, one which was overshadowed only by her reaction when Jonny had been stabbed.

She shuddered at the memory and glanced over to the unconscious form of her younger brother, currently lying within arm's reach of her where she could keep a close eye on his condition, the only sign of life the extremely shallow rise and fall of his chest. She hadn't once let him out of her sight since healing his injury and didn't intend to do so until he was back on his feet.

A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over the Cleric then and she suppressed a wince as her aching muscles loudly protested their treatment over the past few days. She ignored it, just as she had ignored the pain that had shot through her feet with every step she had taken whilst carrying Jonny through Ironcrest on the previous day. She had endured it for his sake and took a slight pride in the fact that she had not shown any outward sign of discomfort to the rest of the group. They had enough things to deal with without having to worry about her after all.

As Katie closed her eyes and slowly felt herself begin to sink back into the comfort of sleep, her thoughts turned back to Mike. She hated to admit that he had barely crossed her mind lately until the dream had reminded her that they needed to find him. As she drifted off into unconsciousness once more, her last lucid thought was the hope that wherever Mike was, he was unharmed, and that whoever this "Guild" group Mouse intended to introduce them to were able, and willing, to help.

\---

Anna was angry again. It came as no surprise to her anymore, she had always struggled with her temper and the new, claustrophobic feeling which seemed to have appeared from nowhere whilst within the confines of the city walls was only making her feel worse. She had an aching need in the pit of her stomach to be alone among the trees, with flowers and grass underfoot and the sounds of nature surrounding her. Instead she had to endure the smell of smoke and piss mingling with the loud voices of the numerous people who they passed, whilst she and her three companions trudged their way through the streets of muck and stone.

The ever present feeling of walking their way into the lion's den wasn't helping either. 

She had been the first to wake that morning when the sunlight had filtered its way into the building which Mouse claimed as her home. It had surprised her how well rested she felt compared to the others, who had grumbled in annoyance when her movements had also jolted them into wakefulness. Tim especially had been quite vocal about his opinion on the matter but Anna had already gotten used to his particular brand of grumpy nonsense. 

Her next immediate step had been to check on the condition of Jonny. Her friend had looked slightly better that morning, the grey of his skin having become darker again and his breathing seemingly less shallow to her untrained eye. Katie had insisted on staying there with her brother when Mouse had gleefully suggested that they all follow her to the Guild for a meeting, stating that she couldn't wait to introduce them to her "new friends", which had led to a brief discussion.

The group had agreed that Jonny was better off resting in Mouse's little nest. However, when Anna had suggested that Eric also stay behind to assist Katie in watching over the wounded Rogue, he had vehemently argued against it until she had lost her temper, at which point she personally tackled and pinned him to the ground in order to get the point across that he still wasn't fully recovered. He had been cooperative after that.

And that was how Anna had found herself in her current situation, following a street urchin to a group of no doubt shady and dangerous criminals with Ruby and Tim, in the hope that they would be in a good enough mood to be gracious enough to resist killing them on sight, as well as also be willing to offer them a chance to make some money, as Mouse had so boldly claimed. Alternatively, Anna would be left with few options.

Her thoughts turned dark for a moment as she put her hand behind her head as if to scratch at her hair, but instead used the tips of her fingers to discreetly feel out a rough estimate of how many arrows were left in her quiver. Twenty five, at most. She was glad that after their skirmish with the orcs she had maintained enough sense to scavenge a few from those she had taken down before Jonny had been hurt. If there were only a few in this Guild group, and their hangout was large and open enough, she could hopefully at least fend them off whilst the trio made a quick retreat. If not, they were in trouble. She wasn't so sure her companions would be of much use if a fight did break out.

The pair in question were talking to each other quietly but Anna didn't bother to listen in. It was idle chatter, the sort which rears its head when people are nervous, and she had fallen behind slightly to try and focus on memorizing the route which Mouse was currently leading, scampering along in her overly cheerful manner which Anna just didn't trust. She needed to focus and be ready, just in case.

The growl originating from her stomach interrupted that train of thought however, further fanning the flames of her anger. It had been too long since she had last had something to eat and it was distracting to say the least. Hopefully they could scrounge something up once they had some silvers to their name and Anna didn't much care how they got their hands on it. 

All of a sudden, Mouse stopped in her tracks in front of what appeared to be a surprisingly well maintained wooden building with at least three floors, which hugged the walls within sight of Ironcrest's east gate. They had long since left the slums which the urchin girl called home behind them on their walk here through the city and it gave Anna a small boost of pride in the fact that her sudden ability to track hadn't been dulled too much by the oppressive weight of the stone and timber structures which surrounded her. She made a mental note that the city had two gates at least, and that they had arrived here from the west. Just in case they had to retrace their steps.

As Mouse rapped her knuckles against the wooden door, Anna stalked her way up to where Tim and Ruby stood just a few feet from the urchin herself, the gnome and tiefling waiting to see what would happen, and stopped just behind the pair. They both glanced back at her briefly.

"Ready for the job interview?" Tim quipped. He was attempting to project an aura of indifference but Anna could see the way his free hand trembled slightly and the white knuckle grip in which he held his staff with the other. Ruby merely remained silent and before Anna could even open her mouth to respond to Tim, the door opened.

It only opened a crack, enough for someone inside to mutter in annoyance to Mouse, who gleefully explained why she was there.

"Tell Orsik ah foun' some folk ta' help out tha' Guild! Telt him ah could do it!"

There was further irritated grumbling from within, and for a brief moment Anna was sure that the door was about to be slammed shut in the young urchin's face, when suddenly the door swung inwards to reveal the occupant who had answered Mouse's knock on the door.

It was a dwarf, dressed in fairly bland leather armour of a similar hue to the wood of the building in which he stood. His beard was black, with thick and bushy hairs which had grown down past his chest in an unkempt and frizzy fashion. The hair on his scalp was tied up into a bun at the back of his head, held in place by what looked to be a strip of leather. His dark blue eyes were obscured by thick eyebrows and the lines of his face as he scrunched it up into a frown at the sight of the trio Mouse had dragged along with her. When the dwarf spoke his voice was rough and his accent thick, as he prefaced his words with an exasperated sigh.

"Mouse. Ya know not ta' go roun' by yersel' wi strangers! Whit have ah told ye'?"

The urchin girl had the decency to at least look slightly ashamed by the telling off for the briefest of moments, glancing back at Anna and her companions with the expression written clearly across her face. Then she spun back around with renewed energy.

"Ah'm sorry Stitch but they was real' stuck so I wanted ta' help em."

The frown remains on Stitch's face for only a few seconds, before the dwarf's shoulders slump and he lets out a sigh, closing his eyes and shaking his head as he does so.

"Aye, alright. Ah just worry about ye' little one. Come in, get some food in ye'. Tell yer pals not ta' touch anythin' or we'll 'ave their fingers."

Mouse clapped her hands in excitement and gestured to the group cheerfully as she finally got the permission she had been waiting for. She barely gave Stitch a moment to step aside before barreling past him into the room beyond. The dwarf's expression softened slightly at her passing, before he turned back to the trio and let it harden again, giving them all a stern glare.

"Well? Shift, haven't got all day ta stand 'ere at a door."

Tim stepped forwards then and, much to Anna's surprise, bowed with a flourish to Stitch before speaking.

"Thank you sir, for your hospitality."

There was a brief silence from Stitch, who's frown only deepened as the time stretched on awkwardly. 

"Ma'am. No sir. None of you bloody surface born can ever tell the difference."

Anna's eyes bulged ever so slightly and she pulled her lips inward as she furiously suppressed a laugh. Tim just stood in silence with a slack jawed expression of surprise and didn't move again until Stitch rolled her eyes and stepped back inside, leaving the door open for them to follow. Ruby was the first of the three to crack, snorting loudly and covering her mouth as she fell into a fit of giggles. Tim flushed red with embarrassment as Anna joined in with the laughter.

"What? What!? The beard confused me, OK!?"

Anna chuckled to herself as she stepped past them both, patting Tim on the head as she went. He swatted at her hand wildly as she did so and took a swing at her with his staff in response, but she had no trouble nimbly avoiding the clumsy retaliation and ignored the indignant noises he made at her retreating back. The inside of the building was slightly dim, with the only natural light in the first room coming from the now open door, through which Tim and Ruby had followed her.

The room they found themselves in was a large, open space furnished with an oversized wooden desk in the centre which bore some signs of damage on its surface. Anna assumed it must have been used as a place to dump equipment and tools, based on the row of wooden brackets on the opposite wall which were mostly empty, save for several pickaxes which were still hanging in place. She let her eyes scan the room for more clues as to what this place could be but was interrupted when Mouse reappeared in the frame of one door at the corner of the room.

"C'mon, get movin', d'you wanna see Orsik or not?"

Ruby spoke up before Anna could, gesturing at the contents of the room.

"Mouse, what is this place exactly?"

Mouse's face scrunched up in annoyance and she replied as if she were explaining something that should be incredibly obvious.

"Where the miners live n gets they's orders, duh. C'mon let's go!"

Anna allowed herself a small smirk at the reply. That had definitely been in her top three deductions. Definitely. The trio passed through the equipment room to the doorway Mouse had now vanished through once again, which led to a short corridor which Anna assumed went into a back room of some kind. As the companions filed their way through towards their meeting, Anna glanced into a long, adjacent room which had the appearance of a barracks to her. There was no one inside for the moment and the room was lit by the flickering light of a single lantern at the far end. She continued on quickly, giving no more thought to it as she prepared herself for the next few minutes. 

Once again, she discreetly ran her fingers over the arrows in her quiver. Just in case.

When they emerged into the back room, Anna's first thought was that it was more well illuminated than the rooms prior. Lanterns had been secured to each wall, but the flickering flames within still cast some long shadows through what Anna immediately recognised wasn't a back room, but some kind of eating area.

It was the largest room so far, with quite possibly the longest table Anna had ever seen dominating the centre of the room. Two large benches ran the length of the scratched and well worn piece of furniture but they were empty for the moment with the exception of Mouse, who had sat down at the end of the bench closest to the group whilst waiting for them to catch up. A small bowl of stew had already been placed before her but Anna glumly noted that there didn't seem to be any more visible as her stomach growled at the sight. The girl gave them a grin when she saw them and raised her voice to be heard by the figure at the other end of the table.

"See Orsik? Told ya' ah could do it."

Anna's gaze was drawn to Orsik. The dwarf was sitting at the head of the table, one lone wooden chair having been set there at some point. The dwarf was wearing a simple cloth tunic and trousers, both grey in colour and failing miserably to hide the fact that he was built like a barge, his musculature appearing almost oversized on his short frame. He was bald, with thick scarring running along his scalp from some old injury, but he made up for it with the huge, braided and ginger beard which he currently had thrown over his right shoulder. He was eating a plate of chicken, gripping a wing loosely in one hand while he gnawed into the meat, and Anna assumed that the beard had been moved aside to keep it from getting in his food. If the pile of bones discarded to the side of the plate were anything to go by, Orsik had already eaten two or three chickens and was currently making short work of another. 

Stitch stood by his side and beyond them both, Anna noted another pair of dwarves, lounging against the wall and watching the trio closely.

They were armed with large axes and armoured in chainmail, their features masked by the half helms which both of them wore for protection. Anna mentally checked off the option of fighting them if they could help it, she didn't like their odds against a pair of heavies in close quarters.

Mouse raised a hand into the air above her head and waved at one of the pair, her face lighting up with recognition and delight.

"Hi Knuckle!"

The dwarf didn't react or speak, appearing to ignore the child completely. And then, ever so slowly, they raised one hand to chest height and gave Mouse small wave.

They were interrupted by the sound of Stitch clearing her throat, the dwarf woman scowling at them and inclining her head towards Orsik. The leader of the group was still eating and apparently paying absolutely no attention to Anna or her companions, when suddenly he raised one arm and gestured with an open palm to the benches beside him. He didn't say anything, but they got the message. Anna led the trio to the head of the table and sat on the end of one bench, beside Orsik. Ruby and Tim took seats of their own on the opposite bench and whilst Anna didn't see her, she heard Mouse scramble along the wooden surface so she could sit closer and listen in.

Anna's eyes landed on the axe which Orsik currently had strapped to his hip. It was smaller than those of the pair behind him, a hand axe rather than a greataxe, but it looked to be of higher quality to her, somehow appearing shinier and sharper. The dwarf finally set aside the now totally stripped clean bone of the chicken wing and sucked on his thumb and each finger, cleaning them of any juices left over from the meat. Anna's heart seized in her chest for a moment when he suddenly reached for the weapon on his belt but he did so slowly enough that she hesitated instead of acting on the sudden instinct to leap across the table to try and stop him. She was quite glad that she didn't, when he casually placed it beside his unfinished plate of food and then clasped his hands together, elbows resting on the surface of the table.

"Weapons on the table during our talk, if you'd be so kind."

Anna blinked in surprise. Whilst still deep, Orsik's voice was surprisingly soft and it almost completely lacked the thick accent of Stitch's speech. There was still a very slight trace if she listened closely, but it seemed he was much more capable of muting it. There was a clatter as Tim placed his staff onto the table alongside the axe and Anna carefully removed her bow, placing it down on the tabletop.

Orsik turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

"The quiver too, if you don't mind."

Anna held his gaze for a moment, not wanting to admit that this dwarf intimidated her even slightly, before slowly adding her quiver of arrows to the pile on the table. Across from her, Ruby twiddled her thumbs innocently and looked down at her lap as Orsik turned his attention onto her.

"No weapons?"

She shook her head, averting her gaze and looking like a schoolgirl who had just been asked a simple question they don't know the answer to by a stern teacher, and replying in a small voice.

"No, sir."

Anna saw Tim's face fall when Orsik didn't correct Ruby, their assumption that he was in fact a he was actually correct this time, and she gave the dwarf her full attention as he sighed and leaned back in the chair, which creaked under his weight. His gaze then fell upon Mouse, who looked away and shrunk into herself slightly.

"So, what exactly did you tell our guests?"

Mouse licked her lips, looking slightly nervous at being asked the question, before she pouted and met his gaze with an air of indignity.

"I told em nuffin which ain't allowed boss. Jus' tha' you was lookin' fer outside ass-iss-tuns. They ain't got no money but I was thinkin' they looked real tough."

Orsik glances at Ruby, with her hands on her lap and her eyes down, and Tim, who was failing miserably in an attempt to look unperturbed by the sudden attention, before finally settling on Anna herself. He quirks an eyebrow at her as she looks him in the eye and does her very best to look unimpressed. She's not sure why but even though she's internally worried and slightly afraid, she'll be damned if she shows weakness to this dwarf. He hums to himself and begins to speak.

"You're easier to read than you think, elf. I take it you're in charge of this pair?"

Tim opens his mouth slightly and raises a finger to interject, but thinks better when Anna briefly shoots him a glare that promises pain if he doesn't keep his mouth shut, and she turns back to Orsik and forces herself to maintain a neutral expression. She bristles slightly at his comment about reading her but a grumble from her stomach reminds her why they agreed to come here and she tries to respond in a way that seems professional. 

"This pair and some others," she states, deliberately omitting exactly how many of them there are on the off chance Mouse forgot to mention numbers. "Your little mascot over here told us you had a problem and were willing to pay for the help." She shrugs with one arm whilst gesturing to herself and the pair who came here along with her, and trying her best to exude the aura of an experienced leader.

"We're here to help."

From behind her, Anna can hear Mouse loudly question what a mascot is but the urchin goes quiet when Orsik raises his hand to call for silence. He didn't make a single move whilst Anna spoke and now that she had said her piece, he looks her in the eye without speaking for several seconds. She frowns ever so slightly but doesn't avert her gaze, maintaining eye contact even as she notes Tim and Ruby fidgeting nervously out of the corner of her eye, none of them willing to be the first to break the silence.

Orsik grunts suddenly, raising a thumb to scratch at his nose briefly, before replying.

"I take it you know who I am?"

Anna makes note of the silence around them, her companions holding their breath in anticipation of what she will say next and Orsik's people waiting to hear what their boss will decide. Right now, they're the only two in this room who's words matter. She's not quite sure if Orsik is playing with them, or testing her in some way, but she forges ahead regardless.

"You're someone with a problem who is willing to pay us to deal with it. You want mercenaries right? We aren't from round here and I'm more interested in silver than I am in asking too many questions. If I'm being honest, I don't much care who you are, only how much money you're willing to part with to get the job done."

She can feel sweat begin to bead on her forehead as Orsik tilts his head back ever so slightly, as if inspecting her, the dwarf still not breaking eye contact.

Then, he lets out a brief snort and Anna is surprised to see a smirk appear on his lips.

"You're definitely the most blunt elf I've ever talked with. Makes a nice change, I'll admit."

He leans forwards, one elbow on the table as if challenging her to an arm wrestle before he points a finger at her instead.

"I'd say you've got balls but even your kind's men take offense to that particular compliment for some reason. Right then. Let's talk business."

Anna breathes a quiet sigh of relief to herself as the big dwarf begins speaking. She decides that it would be wiser to listen than correct him on her race. If he thinks she's a full blooded elf, she can live with it if it means enough coin for some damn breakfast at least.

"So, I have a number of uh, business interests which I oversee in Ironcrest. Most people know me so you'll hear this sooner or later anyway. Folk know I'm fair in business and I like to keep trouble to a minimum, me and the Captain of the Guard have an arrangement of sorts, see."

Anna listens politely, maintaining eye contact and forcing herself to keep from raising an eyebrow. Good to know that organised crime is alive and well even in fantasy worlds. Orsik continues to explain.

"Now, the problem with this arrangement is that the ol' Captain looks the other way provided he gets a share of the proceeds and my lads don't cause trouble where we don't have to."

He frowns, seemingly bothered by something, as he tells her more.

"This puts me at a disadvantage, because there's a new group trying to muscle in on my business, and they've managed to strike the same deal with said Captain. I'd normally have Mutt and Knuckle go and have a word, but this lot will definitely kick up a fuss if I do that and the arrangement will fall apart for the both of us cause the guards know who my lads are. That can be very expensive, and that bothers me."

He gives Anna a grin as she finally cracks, eyebrows raising into her hairline as she figures out what he's going to say to her next.

"You lot however are outsiders. No one knows who you are and if you go round there to scare em off and they kick up a fuss, my agreement and silver aren't at risk and you can probably talk your way out of it by saying they started it."

Anna grimaces and asks a question which immediately occurs to her.

"And if the guard doesn't buy that excuse? Or your rivals decide to kick up more of a fuss than my group can handle?"

He grins when he responds.

"That's why I'm paying so well."

Silence returns to the table. Anna drums her fingers on its surface whilst her mind races and she blatantly ignores the concerned faces Ruby and Tim are making in her general direction. It's risky, she probably couldn't rely on any of the others right now if a fight did break out, but the cramping of her stomach as it pleads at her to find some food already overrides the more logical thought processes in her brain. She blinks as she realises Orsik is waiting for a reply and gives him one.

"What's the pay?"

Orsik allows himself another brief smirk and nods, looking like he's actually slightly impressed.

"Five hundred silvers, paid in full when the job is done."

"Seven hundred silvers, half now and half later."

Anna wonders which of them had the nerve to say that before she realises it was her that blurted it out without thinking. She's never done something like that before in her life but it's been said now and she can't take it back without looking weak. Panic still begins to grip her and she fears that she's just blown the entire meeting, but Anna fights herself to act like she said it on purpose. Orsik watches her closely as she taps a rhythm on the tabletop with a single finger, waiting for his reply.

"Five hundred silvers when the job is done. And fifty now as a sign of goodwill, since I've decided I like you for the moment."

He leans forwards as he speaks and gets slightly too close for comfort, staring straight at Anna.

"Don't push your luck though."

Anna nods once, the panic receding as quickly as it reared its head, and holds her hand out to the dwarf.

"Deal."

Orsik looks at her hand for a moment as if confused and then grins as he spits on his palm and grabs the offered hand, shaking once firmly before releasing her. Anna waits until she has placed her hand under the table before flexing her fingers several times to help ease them from the pain of his iron grip.

Orsik turns to Stitch with a smile and tilts his head toward the door. She leaves without comment, hopefully to bring the down payment. Orsik slaps his hand down on the table and takes his axe, causing Tim to flinch visibly, before returning it to its original place on his hip. Anna takes this as a sign that the meeting is over and rearms herself, securing the quiver and bow to herself. Ruby looks over at her in wide eyed wonder and Tim glares as he takes his staff back, clearly less impressed than the tiefling. They all stand as Stitch returns to the table, with a bag of silver and two cups of amber liquid. She places one cup in front of Orsik and, for some reason, Anna. Orsik remains seated but raises his cup and waits for the half elf to mirror him.

"A toast to honour the deal. Dwarven tradition."

He drains the cup in one smooth motion and slams it down on the table with a loud belch whilst the trio stare at him dumbfounded. He wipes a few stray drops from the hairs on his chin before looking at Anna expectantly.

Anna glances at Ruby and Tim, who seem unsure, before raising her own cup to them and putting it to her lips. It's definitely alcoholic, she can smell it.

"Bottoms up," she thinks to herself before throwing back her head and draining the cup in a manner similar to the dwarf. She has to fight against gagging on the liquid as it blazes a trail of fire down her throat and into her chest, adamantly refusing to look weak in front of Orsik. Once she drains the cup, Anna slams it down in a similar manner and stares the dwarf in the eye, who chuckles and claps his hands. She can't help but make a face at the aftertaste but it is soon sweetened by the bag of money which Stitch places down in front of her. Anna wasted no time in swiping the small, leather bag and typing it to her belt as Orsik speaks one last time.

"Once you've dealt with The Picks for me, come back and I'll give you the rest of your silver. Don't take too long, I've got a schedule to keep. Stitch, could you please show our new friends out? And Mouse, show them where the bastards are staying but don't get too close."

Stitch frowns slightly at Orsik when he curses in front of the young girl whilst Mouse stands on the bench, where she had been sitting in uncharacteristic silence, and performs an extremely poor salute.

"Can do boss!"

Anna shakes her head in amusement as the trio are led back through the building and out to the streets of Ironcrest. Stitch bids them a brusque farewell and gives Tim a glare before closing the door, leaving the trio outside and alone with their urchin guide once more. Anna coughs slightly, her throat still burning from the drink, before turning to her companions with a grin.

"So. That went well, right?"

Tim glares at her, lips pressed into a thin line and eyes hidden by his goggles.

"We're working for the dwarf mafia. Couldn't we have found a less risky job?"

Anna shrugs as Ruby bites her lower lip and glances between the pair. She is vaguely aware of Mouse as she hums and wanders around behind the tiefling, apparently fascinated as she watches the woman's tail sway nervously. 

"Well, better than nothing. He never told us how quick he wants it done so we can regroup and figure it out. Besides, more importantly-"

Anna shakes the bag of silver on her hip, grinning as it jingles nicely.

"-who wants breakfast?"

\---

With Mouse's assistance they spent barely an hour gathering up some supplies from a few stalls in the marketplace. This time, Anna was the one who led the group back towards the slums and to the urchin girl's home, testing out her memory of the route for future reference. She was quite pleased to find that her recall was sharp as ever and she only had to refer to Mouse's expert assistance of the route to her claimed house twice during their walk back.

Ruby and Tim wandered along behind her, both of them chewing on small meat pies which they had paid for earlier, whilst also passing a small waterskin back and forth to drink from. When they had approached the market square on their hunt for supplies, Anna had smelled the food before she saw it and at the time it had made her mouth water. Right now she was carrying a woven knapsack which she had managed to haggle down by a few silvers and it was heavy with dried fruits and meat, as well as a few more fresh pies for the others. She had been fortunate to save the extra silver, as Tim had taken it upon himself to try and haggle down the price of the food itself and been very unsuccessful. It had gone so poorly that Anna was sure the street vendor had actually charged him more than the usual price out of spite.

Still, whilst the coinpurse was lighter by much of their down payment of silver, Anna took solace in the weight of the food still in the knapsack, as well as the two full waterskins which could be refilled easily enough for nothing. The water which they had drawn from the well in the market centre hadn't exactly been what they were used to but it was cold and refreshing, which was more than enough for the moment.

Mouse wandered along at her side as they made their way through the now busier slums, chewing on a strip of dried meat in preference to an earlier offer of a pie as payment for her help, and Anna smirked slightly at the sight of her hurried pace to try and keep up with the elf's longer strides. Anna had been surprised to see more people in the area, dressed in rags and obviously malnourished, but none of them had been brave or desperate enough to approach their group. She could still feel the slight weight on her mood from the claustrophobic feeling of being surrounded by dense stone and numerous people but it was now at the back of her mind, the forefront currently too busy with enjoying her breakfast. 

Maybe she had just been hangry, it had happened many times before.

She looked around at Ruby when the younger woman let out a sudden, cheerful yell and Anna gave a smile and wave of her own when she turned back and spotted who had elicited the reaction.

Eric was hurrying over towards them, still hobbling slightly and clearly having been lurking at the door to the dilapidated house which they were now approaching whilst awaiting their return with a broad grin on his face. Anna felt her mood lift ever further when she heard what the man had to say.

"Guys! It's Jonny! He's woke up!"

Anna mirrored his grin as Tim let out a yell of happiness, before the gnome then hurried to keep up with Ruby as she rushed past them all to go check on their friend. Anna let them go and Mouse followed the pair as the half elf pulled Eric's arm over her shoulders and helped him back to the house, ignoring him as he insisted that he was fine but still made no move to stop her. She felt her spirits soar to even greater heights when she heard the loud cheering from within Mouse's home just before they crossed the threshold.

It was about time things started looking up a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's about time the party made some progress and got some good news. Can't wait to see how they screw it up. 
> 
> As ever, if you're reading this I hope you're enjoying my story. I'm certainly enjoying writing it, even if it takes me far too long to do so.


	8. A Sound of Thunder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonny awakens to discover that his friends have organised a gainful employment opportunity for them all.
> 
> Ruby loses her temper.

Waking up after suffering from a near fatal wound which was then healed using magic wasn't something he had ever expected to experience. Having finally surfaced from the dark depths of unconsciousness, his eyes bleary and mind dulled, the rogue had struggled to recall even the most basic information as his brain attempted to process his situation. The two people who had reacted with surprise and then elation when he had suddenly let out a groan of discomfort had seemed vaguely familiar to him but in his confusion he hadn't considered that important, preferring instead to submit to the temptation of briefly sinking back into the warm and comfortable embrace of sleep. 

When he awoke once more, disturbed by the sound of more people and hushed whispers, Jonny slowly became more aware of exactly who he was and, more importantly, that he wasn't dead after all. His memory slowly pushed itself to the forefront of his mind as he gradually began to awaken fully and he winced as he remembered the moment his own knife had been plunged into his abdomen, the pain of the incident unfortunately still something he could recall too vividly. He remembered the feeling of his extremities growing colder, the way his body had slowly grown numb and unresponsive and the utterly terrifying moment where he had tried and failed to cling onto conscious thought. It was the last thing he could remember before waking up in here, wherever here was, and it sent a shiver down his spine to even think about the moment he stopped feeling anything and slipped into the dark and silence.

His friends crowded around him in the cramped space, which smelled heavily of damp and decay to him, with expressions ranging from concern to relief. Jonny grunted slightly as he attempted to raise himself up onto his elbows but was caught and eased back down by Katie when his muscles failed to support him. He closed his eyes and took a breath whilst the group's words washed over him without taking any of it in, still too tired to focus on more than a single thing at a time.

His entire body was one all-encompassing, dull ache which he could feel deep in his bones. He was awake and alert enough to recall the names of his companions and why they were here but he was still struggling to think through the fog of his exhaustion. He opened a single, tired eye and observed the party as they discussed his recovery with excitement, his sister the only exception. She preferred to fuss over him instead, murmuring gentle reassurances and trying to ensure he was comfortable. Jonny ignored her as his gaze settled on someone he didn't recognise, a young girl who hovered just outside of the room and watched from the doorway.

Jonny managed to open his other eye and, with a great effort, lift his arm ever so slightly to point at the child. He opened his mouth to speak, dimly aware of how dry his throat felt, and spoke in a raspy voice that made it sound like he had swallowed a fistful of sand.

"Who's that?"

Everyone's heads snapped around to the doorway, causing the young girl to shrink into herself slightly for the briefest of moments before she scowled back at their combined gaze. It was Anna who replied, turning her attention back to Jonny and jerking a thumb back over her shoulder towards the girl, a slight grimace marring her elven features.

"Mouse. New mascot, got us a job with the Dwarf Mafia. Don't ask."

Jonny glanced between Anna and Mouse a few times whilst his brain attempted to process what his friend had just said, ignoring the look of indignant confusion on the girl's face. The others sat in silence as they waited for his reply and after a few seconds, he gave up on trying to make sense of it all. He struggled past the discomfort as he spoke once again.

"Oh, OK. Can I have some water please?"

He didn't speak as Ruby passed a small waterskin to Katie, and his sister was gentle as she cradled his head to help him take a drink of the water inside. It was lukewarm and tasted a bit weird to him but Jonny still drank greedily after the first few drops had wetted his lips. He hadn't realised quite how thirsty he had been, and when Katie gently pulled the container away from him he sighed in disappointment.

"Thanks. I'm just gonna, you know, nap."

He let his head fall back into the mound of cloth and pillows, the origin of which he would question later, and ignored the other's brief attempts to try and convince him to stay awake a little longer. It was, surprisingly, Tim who interrupted to berate them, pointing out that Jonny's body probably needed the rest.

The dark elf exhaled as his eyes closed. He couldn't have kept them open if he'd tried anyway. His last coherent thought before he dozed off once more was something he'd worry about when he woke up later and wasn't so utterly exhausted.

Since when was there a Dwarf Mafia?

\---

Jonny recovered swiftly over the following days. Some of his strength had begun to return by the third day after a few small meals and a lot of rest but Katie had been adamant that he stay behind with her while the rest of their friends got to work.

They had been in and out of the building, Mouse's home as he had come to learn, as often as they could during the daylight hours. At first they had focused on supplies and essentials, with Anna using the money which had come as down payment for their job to also buy each of them a cloak to help keep them protected from the chill of Ironcrest's climate. Jonny had queried how she had been able to afford cloaks for the five of them, he himself already having acquired one back in Bluethatch, and she had grinned in a manner he could only describe as feral before replying "aggressive diplomacy."

He refused to admit that he had found it both terrifying and just a tiny bit attractive.

Once they were sure they had enough food to avoid starving for a little while longer, Anna had gotten down to the business of what to do about the job at hand.

"So. Any ideas?"

Jonny watched quietly as Eric raised an eyebrow and replied. "I thought you would have thought up something already. You're the one who accepted the job on everyone's behalf."

Anna rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Yes, I know, you're not pleased about this but I was focused on not starving to death in the cold, thanks."

"Why not just leave?" Ruby didn't sound too hopeful even as she said it. "Maybe they won't notice."

Johnny followed Anna's gaze as she glanced past the others before replying. The group were sitting in a semi-circle around Jonny, who was currently sitting against the wall instead of lying on the floor, but Mouse was not among them. She had opted to sit near the exit, humming something tunelessly to herself as she drew shapes in the dust on the floor with her index finger, seeming not to be paying any attention to them.

Anna turned back to Ruby and shook her head. "They'll notice. Besides, they're paying us. Might as well earn it."

Katie took a moment to ease up on her constant fussing over Jonny's every movement, something he was silently grateful for, to look at Anna and fold her arms. "You know, just because you act like we're a group of mercenaries doesn't make it true."

Anna shrugged even as Eric and Tim nodded along in agreement with Katie, annoyance evident in her features "We don't have much choice. Do you want to find Mike or not?"

The pair glared at each other for a brief moment before Katie sighed and relented. "Fine. But we need to be prepared."

Anna exhaled slowly and rubbed at her eyes with thumb and forefinger. "Yes. That's the point of this discussion after all."

Katie's eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth as if to retort before being interrupted by Tim.

"Information!"

The group looked at the gnome. He was sitting with a grin on his face that seemed to imply that he believed randomly blurting out one word with no additional explanation was enough to solve the problem. Jonny sighed internally.

Eric raised an eyebrow as he tapped one finger of his currently gauntlet free hand against his thigh. "Care to elaborate?"

Tim groaned and shook his head. "Come on, I thought it was obvious. Information, we need to gather information. Knowledge is power and what have you."

Both Jonny and Anna considered Tim for a moment. Jonny was merely surprised that Tim had said something constructive instead of antagonistic but Anna's eyes gleamed ever so slightly as she leaned closer toward the wizard. "You might be onto something shortstack. Any suggestions?"

Tim bristled ever so slightly at being reminded of his stature and a brief flash of anger crossed his features before he decided to ignore it. "Well, who the hell are they first off. How many are there? Where do they hang out? Who's the boss? Know your enemy, Sun Tzu said that."

Eric snorted. "Comparing yourself to Sun Tzu now?"

Tim shrugged, expression one of satisfaction. "Well, you said it buddy, not me-"

"Alright enough," said Anna, looking amused but focused on business. She glanced once again at Mouse, who seemed to be paying more attention now, and hummed. "I think I know what to do."

And that was how "Operation Night Falcon" began. No one referred to it as that except for Tim, who had been immediately and unanimously banned from naming things in the future by the group, but Anna had been quick to organise them as best she could.

The first part of the plan had almost ended in a fistfight when Anna explained it. Mouse had already confirmed that she knew where the gang had set themselves up but Anna had been unwilling to trust her word alone. That was the point where she had the idea to send Tim along during the daylight hours with the young girl in his cloak, taking advantage of his height to observe from a distance and eavesdrop if the opportunity presented itself, all while appearing at first glance to be another child like Mouse.

It hadn't gone down well, even if he did agree eventually.

Secondly, Anna herself would take the night watch. Her job would be to track the members of the gang and stalk their movements, get a feel for the district their hangout was located in and map out any escape routes or potential ingress points to the Pick's hangout. Jonny didn't understand quite how she was able to stalk targets whilst remaining undetected and she had admitted that it seemed to be similar to the other skills which all of them had intuitively developed.

Finally, as the only visibly human member of the party, Eric would spend his time amongst the markets and taverns whilst playing the part of a slightly dim-witted swordsman, all the while keeping his ear to the ground for rumours and seeing who he could convince to share the local gossip with him. He had grumbled when asked to do so but had accepted without further complaint.

Ruby had deflated somewhat when Anna had informed her in no uncertain terms that she would be staying with Katie to tend to Jonny's recovery, explaining that her appearance would be the opposite of stealthy. The youngest member of the party didn't push the issue with Anna but Jonny could see from the slump of her shoulders and hurt expression that she had expected to be included in some other way. It made him feel slightly guilty, he didn't like the idea of being dead weight either.

Which is why, on the evening of the sixth day since the start of their mission as Anna gathered the others to discuss what they knew, Jonny spoke up.

"I'm coming too."

There was a brief pause where all eyes were on him, and he could feel the disapproval coming off of Katie in waves, but he ignored their surprise and continued. "I've been sitting here for almost a week doing nothing useful." His tone sounded slightly hesitant to him, so he cleared his throat and continued with more confidence. "I'm feeling better. A lot better. I want to help, and besides," he glanced at Ruby, who's eyes were wide with dawning realisation. "Six of us would have better odds than three."

Katie was the first to break the silence which followed, shattering it with a loud "harrumph" which surprised Jonny. "No. You're still on the mend Jonny, you're not ready for-"

"I'll decide if I'm ready or not!" Jonny snarled, before blinking in surprise at his outburst. He felt guilt swell up in his chest at the shocked and hurt expression which appeared on his sister's face and sighed before continuing in a softer voice. "I know you're worried Kate but I can't just sit here while the others go and do this. I-it's not fair." He meets each of their gazes, including that of Mouse who so far hadn't interacted with him much. She looked afraid. Jonny closed his eyes to avoid looking at anyone else and spoke again, finality lacing his voice. "I'm ready."

There was a grunt from Tim, who merely shrugged at Jonny's statement. "Alright drama queen, we get it, you want in. I say sure." The gnome shrunk into himself a little when Katie shot him a look which promised swift and painful retribution for his agreement but spoke up once more. "But, obviously, it's a group decision. Course' it is, not just up to me." He gave Katie a pleading look which she replied to with narrowed eyes but nothing else.

"Many hands make light work," Eric stated matter of factly. "We're already outnumbered and considering Anna's idea of a strategy after almost a week of information gathering is 'go in when it's quiet and beat up their boss' I'm more than happy to have some extra hands if extra brain cells aren't available."

Anna made an indignant noise in reply and bared her teeth at the paladin, which he ignored, before huffing and crossing her arms with a slight pout. "It's still a good strategy. We know where they are, we hit them when they're at their weakest and we take down the boss. They'll fold without him, you're the one who told me that." 

Eric sighed in exasperation and cupped his face in his hands before responding. "What I said was that he's the brains of the operation and for the moment his followers aren't the smartest bunch." He raised his head and fixed her with a tired gaze before continuing. "I could well be wrong, he might have a team of genius criminal masterminds backing him up for all we know. I found out from some tavern girl, maybe it's just idle gossip."

"Better than nothing. I still think it's the easiest way to do this quickly and cleanly." Anna ran a hand through her hair, brow knitted in thought as she weighed their options. "Midday is when most of his cronies are out extorting people or collecting on loans or whatever else they do during the day. Their tavern will be quiet, we can pay him a visit then."

Ruby piped up all of a sudden. She had been silent so far but when she spoke it was with a raised voice, as if she had been holding in her comment and it had burst free of its own volition. "What about guards? Won't they arrest us if we go and cause trouble?" The young woman bit her lower lip and let her gaze fall to the floor, fidgeting with her hands as she quietly brought up something which had clearly been bothering her. "And, what do you mean by taking down the boss? You don't mean-"

Suddenly Anna was in front of the Tiefling, gentle hands gripping the other woman's shoulders and a look of grim concern on her features. "I mean take him down. Preferably without causing any permanent harm okay? But that's up to him." She took a moment to lift Ruby's face to meet her eyes by using one hand to lift her chin and quirked the corners of her lips upward in a very slight smile. It didn't reach her eyes, however.

"We need to be tough here Ruby. It's survival, alright?"

Ruby's eyes watered ever so slightly but she closed them tight and nodded vigorously whilst sniffling a little. "Okay. Just- promise me it's a last resort."

Jonny noticed that Anna hesitated before replying, something hard crossing her expression as she thought of what to say. "We'll do our best, Ruby."

"And don't worry about the fuzz, Red," Tim drawled. "The most activity me and the kid saw from them was when two went in for ten minutes and then buggered off." He indicated Mouse with the jerk of a thumb over his shoulder, causing the young girl to grin at them when their attention briefly landed on her. "She reckons they were just there to pick up their boss's cut. Or for a bribe. I'm inclined to agree."

"So it's settled," said Anna, who clapped her hands together and grinned. "Midday tomorrow, all six of us. The kid stays here."

Mouse looked like she was about to protest when she was startled by a growl emanating from Katie's throat. The group turned to her with slight alarm as she stared them all down with thunder in her eyes. "Settled? No, it bloody well isn't settled. But I can tell I'd just be wasting my breath trying to convince either of you two-" she pointed at Jonny and Anna, causing a slight spike of instinctual, fraternal fear to shoot up her younger brother's spine, "-to come up with a better plan and to rest instead, Jonny." Her gaze had settled firmly on him when she said his name, in a manner that promised she wasn't happy with him and would make sure he regretted it at some stage in future. He didn't doubt she would, he loved his sister dearly but she could be scary when she wanted to. 

Katie took a moment to glare at each of them in turn, her expression only softening the tiniest of a fraction when she got to Ruby, before grunting and sitting down amongst the makeshift bedding of Mouse's room. "Fine. But if this goes wrong I won't hesitate to drag you all out of there by my own two hands if need be."

Anna glared at the other woman for just a few seconds more than was comfortable before looking away and addressing the others. "So, midday, go in, act like a mafia." She lifted both hands to her chest with her thumbs up and a slightly manic grin on her face. "Cool?"

No one argued but Jonny couldn't help but shake the feeling that even with the preparations Anna had made, they may just be in over their heads.

\---

Even now, at the height of noon, it was too cold. 

Ruby shivered and wrapped her cloak around her shoulders more tightly. The party had all wrapped up in the warm fabrics before they had set foot outside of Mouse's home, and even with the sun high in the sky there seemed to be very little warmth forthcoming. A quick glance around at her companions had brought her to the conclusion that they didn't seem to be suffering from the chill quite so much as her, if the way they wore their own cloaks loosely draped over themselves was any indication. 

The group had been silent for the most part as Anna had led them through the streets towards the tavern which The Picks called home, moving with purpose and ignoring the worried looks levelled upon them by the locals, who made a point of avoiding the party. Ruby herself hadn't spoken to anyone since before even that, preferring instead to listen as Anna had gone over the details of her frankly barebones plan whilst also struggling to push down the nervousness in her stomach. It hadn't worked, and she could feel herself trembling as they got closer and closer to their destination. Still, a part of her refused to let it consume her with the thought that this might not be a good idea. Jonny had been stabbed, and he was still brave enough to volunteer in order to keep them from being left behind. 

She had been surprised when he had spoken up and at the time had perked up at the chance to help the others in their plan. That feeling had soon given way to doubt however, as she had lay awake for half the night mulling over what could go wrong. The information gathering stage had felt like something she could do, but confrontation? She wasn't so sure about that, not after what had happened the last time.

She didn't get much chance to worry about it for long, as all too soon they arrived outside of The Picks' tavern. It didn't appear all that similar to the other taverns which they had visited briefly. Admittedly that wasn't many but Ruby had been paying enough attention to recognise a few things. 

Unlike most taverns, this one lacked a sign to indicate that it even was a tavern.

Unlike most taverns, all of the wooden shutters were closed tight.

And unlike most taverns, this one had someone standing guard.

The man was big, that was immediately apparent. He was human, probably, but he towered over them all and the frown on his face coupled with the way he folded his arms across his chest did little to help ease her nerves. The man wasn't just tall, he was wide too. If Ruby was being entirely honest, he seemed quite overweight, with a visible gut and chubby face which made his features appear slightly too small for his head. But there was no hiding his massive shoulders and neck, both of which were clearly visible from under the too small cloak which was draped over his frame in a manner which made her think of a bed sheet over a freight train. She changed her mind, he wasn't big. He was Big, and he hadn't been part of the plan.

None of which seemed to bother Anna, who fearlessly marched up to the giant of a man and stopped before him with her hands on her hips and a wide grin. "Hi! Sorry we're late, you can let us in now."

Ruby had to clench her jaw tightly to keep it from dropping. 

There was silence as they awaited the man's response. He didn't reply immediately, instead slowly tilting his gaze down to focus on Anna with a hint of confusion clouding his expression. He seemed to ponder her words for a few moments before slowly shaking his head from side to side. The man's voice was quieter than expected but it was still a deep rumble which carried a tone of absolute certainty as he gave his monosyllabic reply.

"No."

Anna never skipped a beat. She merely hummed and pressed a hand to her chin, maintaining eye contact with a mock pout. "Hmmmm, nope, can't have that. Boss definitely said today was the day." Her tone was deliberately cheerful but Ruby could see the way she had turned herself ever so slightly away from the man, as if preparing herself to dart out of arm's reach.

The oversized man blinked owlishly at her before once again shaking his head and replying in precisely the same manner as before. "No."

Ruby glanced nervously over her shoulder, feeling eyes upon her even as Anna continued to try and convince the man that they were definitely supposed to be allowed inside. She tended slightly when she noted that a few passers by had stopped to watch. That was bad, attracting attention was bad.

Suddenly her attention was brought back to the one sided argument between Anna and the Big guy when Eric took it upon himself to step forward. He placed a hand on Anna's shoulder as he drew level with her, which caused the Elf to snap her head around and glare at him but she didn't argue as he shook his head at her with a smile and inclined his head back to the others. Ruby held her breath as Anna stepped back to allow Eric to plant himself directly in front of the man who stood at least a head taller than even him. The oversized guard looked slightly puzzled as Eric glanced around himself, as if checking to make sure no one could overhear. Then, he leaned forward slightly and beckoned the man closer. "Hey, big guy, this is for your ears only, straight from the boss."

The man's brow furrowed and his lips turned downwards as he scowled in disapproval. "So tell me then."

Eric sucked in air through his teeth and shook his head even as he theatrically glanced back over his shoulder at his companions. "It's like I said, your ears only." Eric stood on the tips of his toes and covered one side of his face with his left hand as he stage whispered to the giant of a man, jerking a thumb over his shoulder in the vague direction of Ruby. "I'm not even allowed to tell them."

The man somehow furrowed his brow even deeper than he had previously, Ruby could practically hear the gears turning in his head, before he came to a decision. With his arms still folded in front of his torso, he leaned forwards until he was eye level with Eric and opened his mouth to say something. 

Eric didn't give him a chance. Without warning, the paladin grabbed the guard by the ears, before slamming his forehead against his nose with as much force as he could manage.

Twice.

There was a rather sickening crunch and Ruby covered her mouth in shock at the sudden and slightly brutal act of violence. She could feel a swell of pity rise in her chest as she watched the man's reaction. 

He had slumped to the ground, face bloodied and palms covering his nose for protection, whilst sobbing quietly. She felt even more awful when she realised that he had his eyes squeezed shut as tears ran down his face to mix with the blood flowing from his mangled nose and the noises he made from his spot in the dirt were nothing short of pitiful. She looked at Eric, who was breathing heavily whilst he stood over the man with his hands curled into fists and blood on his face. For a moment, she thought that he was going to strike the man again before his breathing evened out and he took a moment to notice how the big man was curling in on himself in an attempt to stay as far from Eric as he could.

The paladin chewed at the corner of his lip and rubbed the back of his head while the others waited for him to say something. "Uhh, shit. Nothing personal big guy?" 

A whimper was the only response he received.

Eric looked at the others sheepishly and Ruby wasn't sure how to feel. Their path wasn't quite as blocked as it was before but she still felt bad for the poor man. He hadn't actually done anything to harm them yet after all, only told them no. 

She was brought out of her reverie a moment later however when Anna clapped her hands together and stepped forwards. "Okay, problem solved, good work team," she said cheerfully, ignoring the man trying his best to curl ever further into himself as she strode towards the door. "Let's get on with it shall we?"

Tim paused to look at Eric's victim as he followed and glanced up at the paladin with a grimace, who was standing alone and unmoving with a look of regret on his face. "Dude, harsh."

As the gnome stepped forwards the others suddenly remembered themselves and filed into the building. Ruby followed at the back of the group, stealing a glance at Eric as she hurried by. He remained rooted to the spot even as the rest of them made their way inside but he suddenly spun in place to follow her as she passed, still looking rather guilty.

Once she crossed the threshold of the doorway and stepped into the building proper, Ruby could already hear raised voices. As she caught up with the others and took in the situation she could see why.

The tavern was lit by torch sconces on the wall and was completely bare of furniture, with the exception of several scattered chairs and a single large table in the middle of the room with several bags of silver set upon it. She knew they contained silver, because one of the bags was currently open with its contents spilled across the table's surface from when the room's occupants had been counting the money. There were also several pickaxes on the table, but only briefly, before they were lifted into the hands of their owners, who didn't look pleased to see the party here. Ruby gulped as her eyes darted around the room. There were at least ten men here, with hard expressions and cold eyes, all armed with pickaxes. Most were already standing with a few pushing themselves out of chairs onto their feet with an air of menace. There was only one who remained seated, behind the table covered in money, observing the party with a look of total incredulity. Ruby wasn't surprised, her own eyes were drawn to the pair whose raised voices had grabbed everyone's attention.

Katie and Anna were having a full blown argument in front of everyone.

"- and you said they'd be out at midday!"

"They usually are! I didn't know they'd be having some kind of fucking payday meeting or some shit!"

"I thought you had been gathering information this entire week!"

"Mistakes were clearly made, okay!?"

Ruby felt fear creeping it's way up her spine and she glanced at her three male companions, all of whom seemed as dumbstruck as she was. Eric slowly reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, before looking her in the eyes and tilting his head ever so slightly towards the exit. As he cleared his throat to get the attention of Jonny and Tim and began to shuffle them backwards towards the door, Ruby heard a sound which caused her heart to drop straight into her stomach.

Behind them, several more Picks had entered the tavern before closing the door with a loud and final sounding bang.

The sound of the door being slammed shut cut short the girl's argument and they both gaped slightly as they suddenly realised their predicament. The party was enclosed, surrounded by the gang who seemed content to spread out and begin to close in at their leisure. 

In the end, the party found themselves back to back in a circle in the middle of the tavern. Ruby could hear Jonny's slightly panicked breathing from where she stood beside him and she flinched at the sound of someone snorting.

It was the gang leader, a man with greasy long hair and what looked like a half-assed attempt at a goatee. He gestured towards the party. "Someone kill them already."

Anna paled visibly as the gang members grinned and began to close in, jeering as they did so. She yelled out at the boss, voice laced with fear. "Wait wait wait, hold on, don't you at least want to hear us out!?"

The man hummed. "Nope. Bye." He looked down as he began to count his silver again even as the first of their attackers charged in with a cruel laugh.

Ruby felt like she was drowning. It was hard to breathe, and she could imagine herself clawing at the edge of a pit, despair threatening to overcome her senses and consume her entirely. Her vision was blurry from the tears that came unbidden to her eyes and she barely noticed when Eric stepped in front of her to strike her would be killer with a backhand slap whilst trying to draw his weapon at the same time. She was trembling, terrified, useless. It made her panicky, upset.

It made her angry.

"Stop it," she whispered.

Behind her, she could hear a cry of fear as Anna was thrown to the floor before Katie stepped in to lash out at the culprit with her staff. The sound of metal meeting jawbone echoed strangely through the room, before being washed away by a dim ringing noise at the edge of hearing.

"Stop it," she said, louder this time.

At her side, Jonny had frozen. He had said he was ready but he wasn't. He was babbling something incoherent as a large man brandishing a pickaxe came bearing down on him, only to be rescued at the last second as Eric shoved the dark elf aside to intercept the attacker with a desperate lunge. Now there was a smell of ozone in the air, but from no discernable source.

"Stop it," she yelled, over the din of jeering enemies and screaming friends.

Tim had been lifted into the air by one of their assailants, kicking his legs uselessly beneath him even as he swung wildly at his attacker with his staff and bellowed obscenities. He paused in doing so as sparks and light began to dance along the staff, as well as everyone else's weapons. Even the man holding him up by a fistful of shirt stopped for a moment to gaze in confusion at the phenomena. Tim snapped his gaze round to look at Ruby and his eyes went wide, almost as if he could feel what was about to happen.

"STOP IT!"

Some thread of patience in her mind, frayed thinner and thinner the longer they had remained in this world, finally snapped. There was a thrum of barely contained, magical energy as Ruby turned to face the boss with fury burning in her eyes and he gasped as he was surrounded by dancing lights.

There was an explosion of force, a shockwave centred on Ruby as she let go of the power she didn't realise she had been holding onto, and a near deafening roar like thunder. It flung everyone in the room aside with casual ease, friend and foe alike, and scattered the furniture like paper caught in a gust of wind, causing the silver coins on the table to fly around the room like shrapnel. Behind her, the wooden shutters were smashed open to allow beams of sunlight into the tavern even as the wind pressure snuffed out the flames on the torches around the walls. White noise followed in the wake of the shockwave and dancing motes of light flashed in and out of existence around her even as the magic faded.

And just as suddenly as the tavern exploded with sound, as the last of the rain of silver came bouncing to a stop on the floor, silence.

It was a few moments before anyone dared move. Even the gang members were too shocked and dazed to do more than ogle her as she stared at the chair where their boss had been sitting only moments before, all of them sorting bruises and cuts from flying debris. Ruby took a tentative step towards the tipped over chair, noting that the boss seemed to have simply vanished into thin air. The chair however, now discarded several feet away from where it had originally been placed, was not unoccupied. Ruby gasped as she caught sight of what remained of the gang boss.

"Bwuaaaaaaak?"

Standing beside the fallen furniture, with the look of empty headed confusion common to their kind, was a chicken.

The bird clucked in a manner that almost sounded indignant as it jerked its head from side to side, clearly confused, whilst taking a few steps away from Ruby. She merely stared at the creature with eyes wide and a slack jaw. 

Did she do this?

The silence was suddenly broken as one of the gang members dragged himself to his feet and pointed at her, a mixture of fear and anger in his gaze. "Did this bitch just turn the boss into a fuckin' chicken!?"

Ruby cast her gaze around the room, taking in the sight of each of the gang members. A few of them looked like they were ready to get back to fighting but the majority eyed her warily, or glanced at each other with nervousness evident on their faces. Before Ruby could convince herself to come up with an explanation, or an escape plan, Tim came to the rescue.

The table at the middle of the room was pulled back onto its legs and Tim took a rather impressive standing leap which took him from the floor onto the table's surface, where he could stand high enough to be seen. His face sported an impressive welt right above his left eyebrow from where a clin must have struck him but it didn't seem to bother him. "That's right motherfuckers!" Tim yelled. "That was merely a taste of the true power wielded by none other than The Devil's Daughter!"

Ruby winced internally at the new nickname but she held her tongue whilst her companions got to their feet and closed in around her, glaring out at the gang and suffering from bruises of their own which made Ruby feel awful. Tim pressed on with his monologue.

"Your leader had been bested! Your weapons mean nothing against the power of such a demon! Woe unto any who cross her! Heed my warnings of fair folk, for even now I can feel myself struggling to contain her wrath! Flee! Flee for your lives!" 

Ruby had to suppress the urge to shrink in on herself. She just wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole, he was really laying it on thick.

Around her, her companions slowly prepared their weapons and she could see the way one of the gang seemed to attract most of the glances from his fellows. He was staring at her, rooted to the spot with indecision, but it seemed that he had suddenly been nominated by the group to make the decision on what to do.

Ruby felt embarrassed when she realised what she had to do but she didn't hesitate. In a moment of silence while Tim was taking a breath, she pointed a single finger at the man and bared her teeth with a snarl.

He made his decision quickly. Ruby had never seen someone flee so fast before and he was immediately joined by his fellows. Even those who looked like they were ready to keep fighting fled as they realised that the numbers advantage was suddenly not on their side.

"The Guild sends their regards!" Yelled Tim, before hopping down from the table and sighing contentedly. "So, that went well."

"It was a disaster and you know it," came Katie's scorn filled reply.

Tim shrugged in response even as Anna's gaze bored into the back of Katie's head at her 'disaster' comment. "Gang intimidated, we have all our fingers and toes, Ruby is apparently fucking terrifying-", that drew a wince out of her, "-and to top it all off, we get bonus pay." He indicated the silver coins which were scattered all over the floor with his arms held wide and a grin on his face. "Great success in my book."

Katie glared at him before sighing in defeat and wandering over to the exit. "I'll keep lookout just in case that attracted attention. Don't take too long."

Ruby noticed Jonny scampering after his sister without a word before her attention was drawn to Eric as he cleared his throat and pointed to the chicken formerly known as the boss and raised an eyebrow. "Do we know if that's permanent?"

The chicken clucked to itself quietly as it strutted around the room pecking the floor at random, as if completely unaware of their presence.

Anna answered him first, pulling an arrow from her quiver as she did so. "It might not be but I have a solution that's more perman-"

"NO!"

Anna started as Ruby yelled at the other woman, hands clenched into fists and teeth grinding together as she bared them in a snarl for the second time that day. Eric and Tim both took an involuntary step back. "You only said we would deal with him and he's dealt with. No more hurting people!"

Anna looked rather exasperated but it only made Ruby more irritated. The elf sighed and placed the arrow back in her quiver. "Okay. Fine. And if he changes back?"

Ruby glanced between Anna and the chicken, which looked up at her with a tilt of its head and a quiet "bwuak?" She knelt down and gently lifted the bird into her arms, surprised that it didn't object. It clucked happily as she held it, and Ruby locked eyes with Anna. "If he changes back, we deal with it."

Anna held her gaze for a moment before exhaling slowly and throwing her arms up, palms facing the air. "Fuck it. Might as well have a pet chicken. You gonna name it?"

Tim perked up. "You should name him-"

"Nope," said Eric, who earned a furious scoff from Tim.

"You didn't even let me-"

"Nope. Banned. It was unanimous, remember?"

Ruby had to bite her lower lip to suppress a laugh as the pair began to squabble like an old married couple. She looked down at the chicken who had once been a man and felt a stab of guilt for transforming him. She hadn't meant to, it had been out of her control. It wasn't even what she had wanted to do, the shockwave had been closer to what she had intended. A side effect of her magic maybe? How had she even done that?

She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind when Tim began to scramble around the floor to gather up some of the silver which had been sent flying. She grinned as she heard Katie yell for them to hurry up and at Tim's cheeky response for five more minutes. Ruby would worry about her abilities later. At least everyone was still in one piece and right now she had more important matters to attend to.

Like what to name the chicken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can never really figure out what to put here so I'll just shamelessly rob from others. If you enjoyed the story, leave a comment or a kudos. I promise I'm nice.
> 
> More importantly, if you're reading this then thank you. I hope you're enjoying it.


	9. Desperate Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang gets paid for their efforts and decide to put their new found wealth to good use. 
> 
> In a tavern.

The party didn’t waste any time making their way back to their temporary hideout in the slums, not including that which was spent tearing Tim away from trying to gather up every last silver which had been scattered around the Pick’s tavern by Ruby’s explosive outburst. The wizard had cried out in near anguish when Eric, having lost his patience after a full five minutes of watching his companion scrabble around on all fours for coins while they should have been withdrawing as quickly as possible, clamped an iron grip around the scruff of Tim’s neck and physically dragged him out the door. He had weathered the storm of cursing and accusations from Tim only briefly, before Anna took it upon herself to mutter something into the Gnome’s ear which left him fuming but silent. 

The first thing the group decided to do upon arrival back at Mouse’s derelict of a house was to lie low for the rest of the day, time which Tim put to good use grumbling about how the silver left behind had probably been wasted on some local schmucks instead of benefiting them. Eric ignored him, focused instead on keeping a watch on the streets of the slum and trying to keep his heart rate down every time something looked even slightly out of place. He didn’t disagree with Tim, they could definitely make use of every extra silver they could get their hands on, and had even taken a few quick handfuls of coins himself in the immediate aftermath of their brief encounter. However, when he considered the possibility that someone could well have been bringing down a squad of guards on their heads whilst they dithered about gathering every single coin like Tim had wanted to, it made him consider when would be the best time to have a discussion with his friend on the importance of priorities. 

He managed to sleep for a few hours after Katie relieved him halfway through that night and as he trudged his way through the streets of Ironcrest behind Anna, Tim and Mouse he desperately wished that the Kingdom of Vecchia would hurry up and discover coffee. The paladin struggled to stifle a yawn as he dragged himself after the others, eyes heavy with fatigue and muscles sore from yet another night of sleeping on what was essentially the floor with some cloth strewn on top of it. At least the morning chill seemed to have slightly less of a bite to it, the temperature a little more mild than it had been on previous days. It was still enough that he had to wear his cloak to keep warm but had helped to wake him up somewhat when he had followed the others out of the door earlier, when Mouse had insisted that they let The Guild know that they had succeeded. She seemed more excited about their success than any of the others, likely because she had been the one to lead them to this Orsik that Anna had told him about, and the woman herself had been quick to gather up the trio to report to the Dwarf. 

Jonny had been rather withdrawn since freezing up at the tavern and Katie had announced that neither of them would be going and instead remaining behind to help Ruby keep an eye on the still unnamed chicken, who was apparently now some kind of hostage. The rogue hadn’t argued with his sister and so Eric had volunteered to go along. In all honesty, it hadn’t been a difficult decision for him to make. He would have preferred to have been present at the first meeting between Anna and Orsik after all, and he wasn’t going to sit around feeling helpless again now that he was back on his feet. 

He forced himself to be more alert as they arrived at a large building near one of the city walls and his fingers twitched ever so slightly when Anna confidently stepped up to the door and delivered several sharp, loud knocks. She exuded a calm confidence which he couldn’t bring himself to mirror and by the look on Tim’s face, the gnome felt the same way as he did. There was a brief silence, with the exception of Mouse humming some tune to herself as she stood with her hands behind her back beside Anna, whilst they waited for someone to answer. Eric took several deep breaths as he fixed his face into a fragile mask of calm and hoped that it would be enough to hide the concern which was simmering just below the surface. Then there was the sound of a deadbolt being pulled free, a creaking groan as the door swung open and a loud “Hmph!” from the figure who now stood in the doorway, arms folded and expression drawn into a frown.

“Took yer sweet time didn’ ye? We’ve been waitin’ fer you lot since yesterday.”

Eric glanced to Anna as she answered the grouchy dwarf with a grin which he felt was maybe a little too feral. “You know how it is Stitch, me and the boys had to lay low for a bit, let the heat die down, ya feel?” She seemed to be enjoying herself far too much for Eric’s tastes but he didn’t interject. 

She had it handled, hopefully.

The dwarf, Stitch, snorted and shook a very hairy head in a gesture of exasperation. “Aye, cause ye were real’ high on the Guard’s list o’ priorities. ‘Specially considerin’ ‘ow none o’ them knows who done th’ Pick’s place an’ most of the gang went ta’ ground since yesterday.” Stitch leaned forward, arms still folded and emanating an aura of irritation. “Orsik’s waitin for us, let’s no disappoint.”

Anna merely shrugged and rolled her eyes as Stitch turned and headed back indoors, deeper into the building. Mouse was the first to scamper her way inside before Anna and Tim followed, clearly less hesitant than Eric due to their earlier visit. The man waited outside for only a moment before pushing himself to follow. He had nothing to be worried about, the hard work was already done and he knew that they were only here to pick up payment before moving on and deciding what their next course of action would be. Still, he couldn’t help but be cautious, a feeling of general unease at the fact he even had to consort with such criminals draping itself over his shoulders like an ever present and uncomfortable weight. He followed his companions through the corridor at the rear wall of the entrance room which led into the back room where Orsik was waiting. Eric assumed that it had to be him, he matched the description which Anna had given when the dwarf had occasionally come up in conversation. 

Big, ginger, dwarven, that was definitely him.

Orsik was sitting with his back against the table, elbows resting on the surface and head tilted ever so slightly back with his eyes closed even as they approached. He was around halfway along one of the large benches which were set beside the long table and an axe had been placed upon it beside him. He opened one eye when they were within a few paces and pointed at the table with one thumb before speaking.

“You know the drill elf girl. Weapons on the table when we talk business.”

Eric’s mask almost slipped but he managed to force himself not to frown in annoyance. He watched as Anna and Tim placed their own weapons beside the axe and he hesitated before drawing his sword. The paladin locked eyes with Orsik ever so briefly, the dwarf merely raising a single questioning eyebrow as a response, before relenting and placing his weapon beside the others. It would be fine, The Guild weren’t hostile, they were here to be paid for crying out loud.

He still wasn’t comfortable with this.

Eric chose to stand with his arms folded and maintaining the best poker face he could manage even whilst Anna brazenly took a seat beside the leader of The Guild with a self satisfied smirk on her face. The only other person who took a seat was Mouse, who elected to do so on the floor nearby, and even Stitch and Tim remained standing, although the dwarf seemed to remain closer to Mouse than anyone else. Eric’s attention was drawn back to Anna and Orsik as the pair spoke with one another.

“So.” Orsik barely shifted from his position but opened both eyes this time as he addressed Anna. “Apparently the Guard Captain arrived at his scheduled meeting with the Picks to take his share of the silver and instead found quite the mess. There’s been rumours of some kind of explosion, people vanishing into thin air, that sort of thing. Magic, basically.” He turned his head so that he was actually looking the elf in the face instead of out of his peripheral vision. “So that leaves me with two theories. Either it was exceptionally well done trickery,” he pointed at Tim, “or this one showed some stones and waved some magic outta that stick of his.”   
  
Eric noted how Tim’s face turned a shade of deep red. He couldn’t be sure if it was with fury or embarrassment but the wizard didn’t interrupt as Orsik spoke.

“Enlighten me elf, which one was it?”

Anna’s smirk hadn’t once faltered whilst the dwarf had been speaking. As he posed his question to her, she merely let it open up into a full on grin, whilst tapping the side of her nose with a finger. “We wouldn’t be very professional if we gave away all of our secrets, now would we?” She maintained the grin even as he stared her down in silence, speaking again after a few moments when it seemed Orsik was still waiting for an answer. “You said you wanted us to handle the Picks. We handled it, do you really care how?”

The silence dragged out for a few moments longer as Anna maintained eye contact with Orsik, who still hadn’t taken his gaze off of her. Then, he looked away from her with a grunt of annoyance whilst gesturing towards Eric, who felt his heart rate quicken ever so slightly at the sudden attention.

“Whatever. Who’s this then? You didn’t bring him along last time.”

Anna’s expression didn’t waver, the grin still as bright and wide as when she first put it on. Eric couldn’t help but notice that it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I did tell you that I had some others under my command-”, Eric bristled ever so slightly at her use of the word command, “-and he’s one of them.” Anna finally took her eyes off of Orsik to consider Eric, the ever present grin still showing no signs of disappearing any time soon. “He’s meaner than he looks.”

Eric kept quiet, even though he wanted to correct her. He just knew that she was loving every second of this act, pretending that she was some kind of mercenary ringleader with apparent glee, and he wasn’t stupid enough to shatter the illusion whilst they were still in the presence of this dwarf. He was being rather civil right now but Eric didn’t like their odds if he realised they had technically lied to him about their profession. 

Orsik watched as Eric wrestled with his thoughts whilst hoping he showed no outward sign of the inner turmoil, before suddenly turning to Stitch and waving a hand in the vague direction of the wall furthest from their seats. “Go get their money. Five hundred silvers, if I recall correctly.”

Stitch didn’t hesitate, shaggy head bobbing in confirmation before heading away from the group to fetch the coins. Eric felt himself relax a fraction as the order was given and allowed himself the smallest of quiet exhales as he did so. It seemed that The Guild intended on honouring their deal after all. 

Without warning Mouse, who had been sitting with poorly concealed excitement for the entirety of the meeting so far, suddenly couldn’t keep quiet any longer and loudly spoke to Orsik, waving her arm to attract the dwarf’s attention. “See Boss! Telt ye’ ah could get folks fer th’ job! I ‘elped!”

Eric remained silent as Orsik turned his attention to the urchin, expression unmoving as if it were chiseled into stone and not the face of a flesh and blood dwarf. He stared down the young girl for the briefest of moments, which she barely noticed as she tried and failed to keep herself from bouncing up and down on her heels, before his expression softened, surprising Eric. “Aye lass, you did good. Now sit quiet, whilst I talk business alright?”

She grinned like he’d just told her that every day from now on would be her birthday and Christmas combined and nodded vigorously even as she dropped back into a seated position and clamped her mouth shut as requested.

The sound of clinking coins heralded the return of Stitch, who was carrying two rather large bags of jingling silver, which were then unceremoniously dumped on the table with a thud and the sound of coins settling into a small mound. Orsik gestured lazily to the promised reward. “Five hundred for a job well done, as agreed.”   
  
Anna rubbed her palms together at the sight, fully playing the part of a mercenary leader happy to be paid, Eric noted, before turning her attention back to Orsik with one eyebrow quirked upwards. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I like to count my coin when I get paid.”

The silence which rang out was deafening. Orsik had gone very still, staring Anna down with an intensity unlike any time previous, causing her to go rigid under his glare. It suddenly became apparent to Eric again that not only were they on Orsik’s home turf, but he alone was a rather intimidating presence even without any backup from other dwarves, some of whom Eric became quite aware of hovering at the edge of the room where they had been quietly observing the conversation. The only sound which he could hear was the quiet breathing of all present and he was sure he hadn’t imagined the sharp intake of breath from Tim.

And then, Orsik laughed.

The tension was suddenly broken as Anna joined him with a half-hearted chuckle and Eric forced a smile of his own even as his heart hammered in his chest, if only to try and help maintain a good atmosphere. The big dwarf laughed from deep in his chest and had to wipe away a single tear from one eye even as he quickly regained control of himself. “Girl, you might be the one of the only Elves I know who I can honestly say that I like, not just tolerate. You feel free to count, twice even if it takes your fancy.” He observed briefly as she began to count out and stack the coins for sharing between herself and the other two before speaking again. “Might be more where that came from, if something else comes up. What’s your name, Elf?”

Anna froze for a moment and Eric couldn’t help but curse inwardly. It was a one off job, she’d said as much more than once. He had hoped that they could just take the money and go on their merry way but as per usual, nothing was going to be easy in this stupid Kingdom. He watched as her mind worked hard to decide what to say.

“It’s uh, it’s An- uh, Anara. Anara Greenleaf?”

Orsik merely grunted in reply, seemingly oblivious to the hesitance which was obvious to Eric. “Greenleaf, I’ll remember you. Dunno how long you plan on staying in Ironcrest but if there’s another job and you’re still around, I’ll get Mouse to track you down.” The dwarf slid his axe from the table and secured it to his hip, unaware of the internal screaming which Eric had suppressed when he saw him reach for the weapon, before continuing. “Take your time counting the money, I’ve other business to attend to. You know your own way out, so I’ll leave you to it.” 

He strode his way towards another door from that which they had used to enter, pausing as he reached the doorway with Stitch following close behind. He turned to pin them in place with another intimidating glare and spoke his parting words. “Don’t go abusing my goodwill now, my lads are still here even if I’m not. And get yourselves a night in a tavern and a bath. You stink.”

There was a brief and embarrassed silence once he took his leave and the trio traded looks before Tim lifted one arm and sniffed, grimacing slightly at the message his nose relayed to his brain. Eric ignored logic and overrode his own common sense as he did the same thing, before turning his head away with bulging eyes and a small cough as he finally took a moment to actually pay attention to the weird smell which they had all become accustomed to in recent days.

It really was about time they had a wash.

\---

Katie let out an audible sigh of pleasure after she took the first sip of the mead which had been brought to the table by a visibly nervous serving girl. Apparently the term used by the locals was “tavern wench” but she wasn’t a fan of the description or the connotations. She pushed the train of thought aside as she savoured the drink, barely able to detect the sharp alcoholic aftertaste under the sweet flavour of the honey based beverage. 

The Red Wyvern was a spacious and, currently, rather busy inn near the marketplace. After Eric, Tim and Anna had returned from their meeting with Orsik, laden down with more silvers than they really knew what to do with, it had been unanimously agreed that the group would be spending until at least the following day resting up somewhere that wasn’t the backroom of an abandoned slum with what amounted to a pint sized urchin landlord. Katie couldn’t help but smirk to herself when she recalled how the girl had suddenly declared that they owed her rent for the week spent in the house she had been squatting in for who knew how long, all whilst trying to pretend she wasn’t upset that they were leaving. It had been Tim of all people who had managed to convince her to take ten silvers as payment rather than the sixty she had demanded through barely restrained sniffles and watery eyes. He didn’t have to do much convincing, apparently he had managed to make a friend of Mouse and it seemed he also developed a slight soft spot for the girl whilst he was stuck scouting the Pick’s with her for a week. Katie had pretended she hadn’t noticed when he slipped her an additional five silvers from his own cut of the reward when he thought no one was looking.

It hadn’t taken them long to pack up their meagre belongings and head back to one of the nicer taverns where they had originally failed to get any rooms, but not before each of them promised Mouse that they would come visit her and The Guild the next time they passed by. Katie still wasn’t sure if they were even moving on from Ironcrest anytime soon, they had some money now, sure, but it had to be split six ways and they had no consistent source of further income. Eric had insisted on paying for their rooms that night out of his own share of silver, one for him and the lads and one for her and the girls as he had stated to the slightly confused and intimidated innkeeper, so she still couldn’t be sure how far they could stretch their current funds. Still, she had to admit that they had earned at least one evening where they could enjoy a few home comforts. The short bath which she had taken earlier had been in lukewarm water at best in a large wooden basin behind the tavern, where privacy had been based on the hope that no one happened to wander outside whilst she was disrobing or getting in and out of the tub, had felt like one of the best she had ever had. The beds in the room, made of mostly straw and wood, had also felt more comfortable than what she had grown accustomed to whilst she had waited for the boys to finish getting washed. At Eric’s insistence they had graciously agreed to let the girls bathe first, which Katie had been quite happy to accept.

And now she was enjoying a drink after finishing her dinner, which had been a plate covered in chunks of buttery bread and overcooked chicken which had made her mouth water in anticipation when the smell had come wafting over to her whilst she and the others had waited at one of the large, wooden tables in the common area. They had eaten together, making small talk and laughing at the occasional quip from Tim between bites of their food, whilst ignoring the sideways glances and muted chatter of the locals who clearly hadn’t expected them to be here. She had noticed that the vast majority of the clientele were human, with the exception of one small group of dwarves who mostly kept to themselves, and as the sun had begun to set and the chill of Ironcrest had bitten harder with the loss of what little heat had fled along with it, the inn had suddenly become busier as people made their way in to find warmth. It was in abundant supply in the Red Wyvern, either in the form of heat from the roaring hearth which was being tended by what looked to be one of the family members of the innkeeper or in a hot meal and a mug of alcohol. Most people had opted to enjoy both.

As expected, most of the new arrivals had taken one look at their table and chosen not to get too close. Katie had a feeling it had something to do with Jonny and Ruby being present. The only exception had been the bard who had shown up just after they finished eating. The lithe, black haired man had made a beeline straight to their table to introduce himself as Lucian Trill, wandering troubadour. He had announced it loudly enough for the entire inn to overhear, which she imagined hadn’t been an accident based on the man’s first impression. His clean shaven, boyish face had been split into a grin from the moment he had set foot inside and there was a glint of something mischievous in his blue eyes when he had cast his gaze around their table. He had certainly looked like a bard to Katie. His dark green travelling cloak had only slightly concealed the bright red and gaudy tunic beneath and his matching, dark red pants were tucked into dark, knee high boots which looked almost new apart from the dirt which clung to the bottom. He even had a cap with a feather sticking out of the side perched at a jaunty angle upon his head, as well as a lute which he was carrying in his right hand by the instrument’s neck. He had only spent a brief time getting introductions from each of them before making his way over to the owner to offer his services, looking all the while like the stereotypical picture of a bard as Katie imagined it.

The impression had been shattered somewhat after he had begun to play several minutes later. He was  _ awful _ .

It still changed the atmosphere in the tavern rather noticeably. Lucian had soon been drowned out when the dwarves had loudly begun to sing a song in an effort to drown out his lute and they had quickly been joined by half of the locals. That seemed to have been the signal for the tavern to break out into uproarious laughter, loud chatter and yells for more drinks as the party’s presence was suddenly forgotten or ignored. Katie was glad, she had felt a slight undercurrent of tension when the attention had been on them but now it had evaporated completely.

Before long, more drinks had arrived at their table, courtesy of Anna who had insisted that they should take the opportunity to enjoy themselves a little whilst they had the chance to do so. Katie hadn’t been sure the idea was wise, and had said as much, but she had been silenced rather quickly when Ruby had wordlessly picked up a cup of her own and drained it in silence before slamming the empty vessel back down on the table to cheers of approval from Anna and Tim. The effect was lessened somewhat when the youngest member of the group developed hiccups mere moments later but it had led to Tim leading them all in raising their drinks to “The Devil’s Daughter” before emptying their own mugs. Naturally, that had meant that they needed to pay for even more drinks.

The night had progressed in much the same manner. Soon, Katie was left alone at the table with Jonny, who even after a few drinks had remained mostly quiet, as the others restlessly took to mingling with the locals. There were Tim and Ruby, who were discussing something with a rather deflated looking Lucian. Tim was doing most of the talking by the looks of it, features animated and hands waving around wildly, whilst Ruby stood beside him clutching a mug of mead as if her life depended on it, swaying ever so slightly even as her tail made lazy motions which appeared to be an instinctive attempt to help her keep her balance. 

Meanwhile, Anna was sitting at a table with silvers piled to the side, surrounded by cheering men who were betting on the ongoing arm wrestling contest she had gotten into with some wiry looking young man who’s bulging eyes and red face were a distinct contrast with her wolfish grin as she slowly but inexorably overpowered him. The dull thud of his knuckles hitting the tabletop caused a raucous cheer to arise from Anna’s new fans and she pocketed a handful of silvers herself even as the rest of the money was handed out to the winners. It was her fourth win in a row and she celebrated with a generous swig of mead from the mug beside her.

As for Eric, Katie was quite surprised to note that he was sitting at a table of locals with a mug of mead in his hand and had them laughing uproariously at some joke he had told. What was most shocking was the presence of the huge man they had encountered standing guard outside of the Pick’s hideout, laughing the loudest of them all as Eric clapped his free hand on his shoulder. She hadn’t even seen him come in but it seemed that all was forgiven from the day prior. The man still had a swollen and bruised face from the broken nose and it was still slightly more crooked than it had appeared to be when they had first crossed paths but he didn’t seem bothered by it. Apparently he agreed that it had been nothing personal after all.

Jonny shifted slightly at her side, picking up his mug and getting to his feet. She turned to him as he silently drained the last of his drink and set the mug aside, face blank and shoulders slumped. She opened her mouth, intending to ask if he was okay, and felt her heart sink ever so slightly when he held up a hand and shook his head in a request for silence.

“Jus- just don’t,” he mumbled, words slurring slightly. “M’gonna go sleep, not in the mood.”

Her heart continued sinking towards the pit of her stomach as he edged out from the table and made his way towards the stairway which led up to the inn’s rooms, slightly unsteady on his feet. He had remained quiet and antisocial for the entire evening but he hadn’t declined any of the numerous drinks Tim and Anna had been constantly supplying them with and was paying the price now as he made his way out of the room. She was concerned and the alcohol which she had also enjoyed slightly beyond the point of moderation was making it hard for her to suppress the tears budding at the edge of her eyes. 

As Jonny passed by one local man who was standing beside his table and loudly telling his companions his “foolproof” plan to convince the serving girl to accompany him back to his bed that evening, he took a step back and bumped against the passing Drow, who kept his head down and muttered a brief apology out of habit as the man spilled some of his drink due to the impact.

Then he shoved Jonny to the ground and spat at him.

Katie didn’t quite recall her exact movements through the dull fog of alcohol clouding her judgement and the white hot, blinding rage which had instantly replaced the sorrow which she had felt as Jonny had walked away. All she knew for sure was that she was now snarling up at the man, who towered over her dwarven frame considering she was glaring at him from somewhere around chest height, and clutching her staff in a white knuckle grip whilst mentally wrestling with the decision to either hit the man with it hard or hit him with it  _ really _ hard. 

“What the fuck?” Katie growled at the man, ignoring his friends getting to their feet behind him and prodding him in the chest with her forefinger. “Did your mother not teach you manners? He apologised!”

The man, a broad shoulder adult who looked to be in his early thirties and who might have been handsome were it not for the sneer currently set into his features, snorted and leaned forwards so he was staring down at her. “Did yours not teach you about the Underdark, Stumpy? He’s a fuckin’ Drow, I thought your lot were sensible and knew better than to try and play nice with ‘em.”

She narrowed her eyes and failed dismally to push down the fury which was threatening to boil over. She wanted to take her staff and jam it down his throat whilst screaming insults about his mother but she managed to get a handle on that urge and instead chose to continue yelling at him. “You don’t even know him you slack jawed fuckwit!” She heard Jonny get to his feet behind her and murmur something to her about calming down but she wasn’t having any of it. “He was just going back to his room, doing no harm at all! What, do you feel like a big, strong man when you push people around, huh!?”

She ignored the sniggers from the man’s friends and Jonny’s continued pleas for calm as she watched him turn his attention to them with a smirk, before turning back to her and folding his arms in contempt. “Fuck off Dirt Eater. And take your bitch with you.”

There was a brief silence as Katie processed what he said, the jeering of the man’s friends washing over her without actually getting her attention. She shook with barely contained anger and grit her teeth in exertion as she fought desperately against the alcohol fuelled urge to lash out at the man. Deep down, she knew it was smarter to just walk away and forget about this idiot but whilst she had a lid on her actions for the moment, the same couldn’t be said for her tongue.

“He’s my  _ brother _ you prick! And what did you call me!? ‘Dirt Eater?’ Is that the best yo-”

She fell silent when she realised that the man and his friends had already done so first, edging back away from her ever so slightly. Some of them had even begun to sit back down. She felt a brief sense of smug pride at their reaction, before realising they weren’t looking at her, and her attention was grabbed by the sudden feel of a reassuring hand gripping her shoulder as several bodies suddenly took their places around her.

Suddenly there were four dwarves standing around her, the ones from earlier who had started up the singing to drown out Lucian the bard. She looked to the one who had a grip on her shoulder and received only a nod by way of greeting, before one of the other dwarves spoke up. At a glance, she appeared to be the oldest of the four. 

“There a problem here son?” The older dwarf was staring down the man, who seemed to have shrunk in on himself slightly now that it wasn’t him and his friends versus only Katie and Jonny. In fact, he swallowed dryly and flapped his lips like a fish as the dwarf continued to speak. “Sounded an awful lot like you said something me and me mates here don’t take kindly to. Tell me, did I mishear?”

All of the man’s friends had now sat down and were looking into their drinks in silence, leaving him alone under the furious gaze of several very annoyed dwarves. “Uhm, I didn’t mean nothing by it, see I thought Drow-”

“You thought? That must have been a new and terrifying experience for you,” the dwarf dryly interrupted. There was subdued chuckling from the other three which subsided as she continued. “Me and my boys here? We take a rather dim view of people who throw around phrases like that. Where I’m from, that’s called “fightin’ talk.” I don’t want to assume anything but I would hope you can figure out that’s a bad thing.”

The man was staring at his shoes now, wringing his hands at the dressing down in a manner reminiscent to Katie of a child being berated by their teacher after being caught doing something wrong. Katie had to suppress a cheer of success as he muttered a reply. “Don’t wanna start nothing with anybody, just a bit of a heated discussion is all…”

The dwarf woman hums, not sounding convinced in the slightest, before turning her attention to Jonny, who glances between her, the man and Katie with slight apprehension before focusing on the older dwarf when she speaks to him. “I can tell just  _ looking _ at you that you’re not the average Drow, lad.” She looks back to the local man, who Katie would still desperately love to beat the shit out of, before pointing at the table of his friends. “Be a good boy and sit down now.”

The man is silent as he sinks into a chair beside one of his companions and mumbles some half-hearted apology. 

After that, Jonny slinked away to his room before any more trouble could find him but not without first offering his thanks to the dwarf, who introduced herself as Hilda Ironfoot, as Katie was gently guided back to her table by the other three dwarves. It turned out when Hilda had referred to them as her “boys” she had literally meant that they were her sons. Katie smiled, nodded and said thank you as they made sure she was alright after the altercation, all under the unconvinced but silent gaze of their mother, and felt a sense of relief wash over her as they returned to their own table. She glanced around the tavern and noted that not one of her companions seemed to have noticed the argument. Typical.

As she sat in silence with an empty mug in her hands, partially wishing she could just sink into the floor and disappear and mulling over the thought of just going to bed herself, Ruby and Tim wandered back over. They took a seat on either side of her and Katie couldn’t help but notice Ruby’s glassy eyes and little smile as she practically fell into her seat, still nursing a drink as she did so. Katie winced internally at the thought of the hangover which was no doubt lurking in the Tiefling’s near future, waiting to crash down on her like a tsunami of regret in the morning. Still, at least she was enjoying herself for the moment.

She looked over to Tim instead, who appeared to be extremely proud of himself. He grinned at her shoulder instead of her face when he noticed her attention was on him and gestured in the general direction of Lucian, who waved over at them with a smile even as he tried and failed to play his lute without being drowned out by loud, dwarvish singing. Tim raised both thumbs and pointed them at himself, his face the picture of smug success.

“Guess who just single-handedly solved all of our problems? This guy!”

She sighed loudly and raised an eyebrow, which didn’t do anything to dampen Tim’s spirits in the slightest. “What did you do?”

The Gnome gasped at her in mock indignation, pressing his palm against his chest as he did so. “Uh, no, the correct response is ‘Thank you Tim, you’re a genius’ not that.”

Katie remained silent for several seconds as Ruby giggled to herself behind her, before asking again. “What did you do, Tim?”

He sighed theatrically, looking up at the ceiling of the room before replying. “My contributions are unappreciated and I deserve better. Look, we need to get to Stonehaven, correct?”

She nodded in response and was annoyed when he nodded along with her, almost as if he was being deliberately condescending. “Correct.”

He punched the air drunkenly as she spoke, probably enjoying what he thought was some kind of victory as far as she could tell, before continuing. “Course I am. And we also need money to do that. So, thanks to our new friend Lucian, I have found a solution to our problem!”

Katie could tell, both instinctively and based on prior experience, that she wasn’t going to like what he said next. She groaned audibly and placed her face in her hands. “Spit it out then.”

Tim chuckled and she slid her hands down her face as he revealed his plan. “So, we’re already kind of a mercenary company right? That’s what Lucian thought too! That’s why he came over to us earlier on and introduced himself! So, turns out he’s going to Stonehaven next and he’s willing to pay us to be his bodyguards! Problems solved, you may now tell me how wonderful I am.” He leaned back on the bench and placed his feet on the table, one crossed over the other, as he smugly took a sip of his drink.

Katie stared at the wizard, gears turning in her head and biting back her knee-jerk response of shutting down most of Tim’s ideas before they ever got off the ground. As she had thought, she didn’t like it. And yet, it made sense. They didn’t know how to get to Stonehaven, where Mike had been sent by the wizard Aust, and they needed a source of money. Lucian Trill, as bad of a bard as he might be, solved both of those problems.

She accepted defeat and nodded. “Alright. We’ll deal with that in the morning I guess. Anything else?”

Tim grinned. “We officially have a name now.”

Katie groaned once again when she realised that he meant that he had not only given the group a name without it being filtered through more sensible people first but he had come up with it whilst he was drunk and actually told someone. She braced herself, sure it would be awful.

“Tell me Tim. What are we called?”   
  
He grinned and she felt all hope vanish as he spoke.

“We’re The Desperate Measures.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took long enough to give them a group name.
> 
> As per usual, if you've read this far then thank you for reading my story.


End file.
